Roz Savage

Roz Savage Profile

Ocean Rower, Author, Environmental Campaigner

Roz Savage is a British ocean rower and environmental campaigner, who in 2010 became the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean. Coupled with her solo row across the Atlantic in 2005-6, she has now rowed over 11,000 miles, taken 3.5 million oarstrokes, and spent cumulatively nearly a year of her life at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. She chronicles her adventures in her book, Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean. The documentary film of the same name was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Film Festival in 2009.

A latecomer to the life of adventure, Savage worked as a management consultant for 11 years before deciding in 2005 to compete in the 3,000-mile Atlantic Rowing Race. In 2008 she became the first woman to row solo from California to Hawaii. In 2009 she continued from Hawaii to Kiribati, and in 2010 she completed the Pacific crossing by rowing to Madang in Papua New Guinea.

Savage has braved 20-foot waves, been capsized 3 times in 24 hours, faced death by dehydration when her watermaker broke, and nearly drowned after becoming separated from her boat. She has encountered whales, dolphins, sharks, and turtles, and admired the timeless beauty of sunrises, sunsets, and star-filled night skies. The ocean has forced her to develop courage, tenacity, perseverance, and the strength to transcend self-imposed limits.

An accomplished international speaker, Savage’s past speaking engagements include the Royal Geographical Society in London, the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC, and Seattle, the TED Conference and the Vail Symposium. Her relaxed and informative style has inspired and entertained audiences all over the world, including the US, UK and New Zealand, and also Canada, Antigua, and Papua New Guinea.

An eloquent campaigner against marine plastic pollution, Savage is also a United Nations Climate Hero and an Athlete Ambassador for 350.org. She has been listed amongst the Top 20 Great British Adventurers by the Daily Telegraph and the Top 10 Adventure Twitters by Outside Magazine.