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Boat capsizes, ends odyssey for Olympic gold medallist Adam Kreek, a University of Victoria alumnus

A quest by former University of Victoria rower Adam Kreek, an Olympic gold medallist, and three others to row across the Atlantic ended Saturday when their 29-foot boat capsized.

A quest by former University of Victoria rower Adam Kreek, an Olympic gold medallist, and three others to row across the Atlantic ended Saturday when their 29-foot boat capsized.

Kreek, Markus Pukonen of Tofino and Jordan Hanssen and Pat Fleming of Seattle were unharmed.

The rowers were aboard a commercial vessel on Saturday evening, en route to Puerto Rico, said Greg Spooner, the expedition’s mission control person.

The mariners were 73 days into a 6,700-kilometre transatlantic rowing expedition from Senegal to Florida. They were expected to reach Miami within weeks.

Kreek won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in the men’s eights.

Shortly before 3:50 a.m. PDT, the boat capsized and the crew called for help through a personal locator beacon attached to a life-jacket.

When the vessel capsized, the rowers were 640 kilometres north of Puerto Rico. A cold front with strong winds and rain was in the forecast for the area.

On Friday, the crew reported via Twitter that a lightning storm had passed overhead.

“Jordan’s beard was rising to the sky and glowing, and both antennas were glowing at their tips. Lots of loud thunder and intense eye-shattering lightning. Wow. Crazy freaky,” said the tweet.

A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft made visual and radio contact with the overturned boat and a life-raft, Spooner wrote on the expedition’s blog.

The boat was designed to right itself if it capsized but did not do so, Spooner said.

Along the way, the crew studied the health of the Atlantic Ocean and monitored their own physiological response to the extreme conditions.

The accident follows years of preparation and planning, Spooner said.

“Unfortunately, careful planning cannot make an important expedition 100 per cent safe,” he said.

He thanked the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies that successfully located and rescued the rowers. “They put their lives at risk to save [the rowers],” Spooner said.

The expedition, sponsored by the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Ocean Adventure, Rowing and Education (OAR Northwest), left Dakar, Senegal, on Jan. 23.

The crew were rowing the open ocean, self-supported 24 hours a day, with each crew member rotating through two-hour shifts.

A computer program, developed at UVic, monitored the crew’s activities and ensured they followed a strict schedule that maximized their energy and mental sharpness.

There was also scientific equipment on board to monitor the ocean conditions and marine life.

smcculloch@timescolonist.com