Oneida County native sets, breaks records in 43-day CA-to-HI solo row

A Oneida County native, Kelsey Pfendler, set and broke multiple records with a solo row from California to Hawaii over 43 days. The 32-year-old, born in Lee Center and raised in Boonville, became the third woman—and the first American and youngest woman—to complete the mid-Pacific solo route, crossing from the coast of California to Hawaii. According to Colorado Governor Jared Polis, she launched from Monterey, California on May 21 and covered 2,300 miles to Honolulu, Hawaii, arriving at Magic Island and Ala Wai Boat Harbor just after 9 p.m. on July 3. Her finish shattered the women’s solo speed record of 86 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes set in 2020 by British rower Lia Ditton, and also the men’s solo speed record of 52 days, 13 hours, 17 minutes set by UK’s Rob Eustace in 2014. Pfendler’s effort also supported The Whale Foundation; more than $200,000 had been donated by July 13.