Rowing Solo Across the Atlantic Ocean with Taryn Smith

Wild Ideas Worth Living

REI Co-op

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4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 26 minutes

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Summary

In January 2026, Taryn Smith became the third American woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, completing a 46 day Atlantic Ocean crossing in open water conditions. With no rowing experience beforehand, she leaned on a foundation built through world travel, the New York City Marathon, and summers exploring Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In January of 2026, Terran Smith became the third ever American woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
0:13.2	It was a harrowing journey. For 46 days, Terran was at the mercy of the sun, the wind, and the
0:19.3	churn of the water. We had huge waves, and so a wave would crash of the sun, the wind, and the turn of the water.
0:24.2	We had huge waves, and so a wave would crash over the boat.
0:29.1	Get on me. I'd have salt water all over my body, which is massively uncomfortable,
0:32.3	because as it starts to dry, you're left with salts.
0:35.8	And it's almost greasy and sticky. It just doesn't feel good.
0:38.0	And I just started bawling.
0:40.5	And I said, I can't do this for seven more days.
0:43.6	I cannot, I cannot make it through.
0:47.3	But when you're out at sea, there's no other option.
0:54.3	And so in some ways, I think it's easier to be resilient in that setting because you just have to keep going.
1:03.2	The craziest thing about Terran's wild idea is that before she decided to make this crossing, she had no rowing experience at all. But Terran was no stranger to adventure.
1:10.4	She'd traveled all over the world, run the New York
1:12.7	City Marathon, and spent many summers exploring Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains. Taryn was drawn to this
1:19.6	row because it was unfamiliar and scary. She wanted to look that fear straight in the eye.
1:26.6	I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-Op Studios production
1:32.7	presented by Capital One and the REI Co-Op MasterCard.
1:42.3	Terran Smith, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living. Thank you so much for having me. You grew up in
1:48.9	Omaha, Nebraska. Is that correct? That's correct. So did you grow up outdoorsy? Like, did you
1:53.6	compete in sports? Did you do any rowing before? I had done no rowing before, but I am a lifelong athlete,
2:00.6	so I did figure skating and ballet.
	...

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