This Is What an Olympic Rower’s Hands Looked Like After an 1000 KM Row

Olympic rower Alex Gregory posted a shocking photo of his hands after monstrous row from Norway to Iceland.

A crew of nine rowers, including the two-time Olympic Gold medalist, embarked on an expedition from Norway to Iceland. The team, consisting of men from various countries such as Iceland, India, United States and Norway, have set eleven world records while rowing a massive distance of 965 km, including the following Guinness records:

1. First to row the open waters Arctic Ocean from south to north.
2. Fastest row in the Arctic.
3. Northernmost latitude reached by a rowing vessel.
4. First to row the open waters Arctic Ocean both directions.
5. Largest team to row in the Arctic.

However, due to severe weather conditions in the Arctic sea, the Polar Row team faced a perilous situation. After five days of no visible sun, their solar-powered batteries had drained, and they got stranded on an island.

“We never seem to be getting very far, nothing changes..” Gregory wrote on Facebook shortly beforehands (oops, literally). “I’ve never been so wet and cold. It’s seeping into my bones, there is absolutely no escape from it. 2 degrees, 99% humidity nothing will dry. I have to wait for land. It’s getting worse though, the colder I get, the more I have to work during my shift, the sweater I get, the wetter I get, the colder I get.”

In the end, the team chose to prioritize their safety and decided not to complete their journey to Iceland, instead manually steering towards the Island of Jan Mayen, which is approximately 600km away from Iceland. The Norwegian military and Norwegian Meteorological Institute took care of them, confirming that the team was in good health, warm, and extremely content.

It was then that Gregory, a five-time world champion, shared the shocking image of his hands after enduring the extremely cold, wet, and humid conditions, which only adds to the already terrifying experience.

My hands after spending so long in wet gloves.The blisters were never bad on this Polar row, but the wet & damp seeped into the skin… pic.twitter.com/N3Y6s3m4Uh

— Alex Gregory (@AlexGregoryGB) August 30, 2017

The 33-year old shared the revolting sight with the caption: “My hands after spending so long in wet gloves.The blisters were never bad on this Polar row, but the wet & damp seeped into the skin…”

He also announced that he would not be continuing to row (and who could really blame him having seen that photo?) while skipper Fiann Paul was “still pursuing options” to bring new crew members to the island to complete the expedition.