On November 2, 2007 two members of the Stetson Crew team were successful in their attempt to break a world record in erging. Juniors Manzura Talipova (Orlando, Fla.) and Eric Lamontagne (Zephyrhills, Fla.) took it upon themselves to attempt to break the 100,000 meter record in the “Tandem Mixed Lightweight” division. The 100,000m distance is equal to 62.1 miles. The Hatter tandem completed the distance in 7 hours, 56 minutes, and 18 seconds.

Talipova's and Lamontagne's time broke the old record by one hour, 48 minutes and 42 seconds. The previous world record (9:45.00) was set in 2005 and was held by Michelle Clark and John Bartucz of the Rochester Rowing Club in Minnesota.

Erging is the land form of rowing often used by rowers for training. The term “Erg” refers to ergometer. Erging takes place on a stationary rowing machine manufactured by a company called Concept 2. In addition to manufacturing ergometers as well as the oars that the Crews use on the water, Concept 2 documents and maintains the erg records for several different divisions.

After setting up their ergometer outdoors in front of the Edmunds Center, the pair began their quest at 10:34 p.m. on a Friday. They rowed through the night encouraged by each other and their favorite music and finished at approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning with a new world record.

“The challenge was definitely not a breeze, and both of our bodies were still in pain for more than 48 hours after that row”, said Talipova. “Battling the pain was tough, but fighting off sleep and hunger made the row that much more challenging.  In the end though, our competitiveness and adrenaline kept us erging through the night.” 

A Web Blog with more information about the record-breaking night can be found at:

http://rowingaddict.blogspot.com

All of the Concept 2 records are listed on the company website at: http://www.concept2.com/us/motivation/awards/marathons/ultra_records.asp