24 Hour Charity Rowing Marathon

The team of four local men completed the gruelling challenge by taking it in turns rowing the static machines in pairs of two, for two hours on and two hours off.

Taking part was 24 year old rowing coach Nick McCorry, brother Phil McCorry 22, who works for East Sussex County Council developing school travel plans, teaching assistant Matt Hellier 19, and fitness instructor Ian Allen, 24.

The stamina required to survive the challenge in Bexhill's extremely un-spring like conditions of chilly wind and rain, is a taster of what will be required of the men when they compete in the 2009 Indian Rowing Race, which will take them from Western Australia to Mauritius.

It's a race that's never been done before and is something that Phil said will be a "life-changing" experience for him and his team and, he hopes they will also be raising a lot more money for their chosen charities along the way.

Of the team he said:" We are all passionate about rowing and feel lucky to be given the opportunity to participate in the race. I know it will change our lives and we want to raise as much money as we can for the Make-A-Wish foundation and the Stroke Association, so that we in turn can make a difference to other peoples lives."

The team will have to be fully self-sufficient for the race which will take between 50-60 days to complete, covering 3500 nautical miles.

The men, who are all Bexhill rowing club members, still have to buy their boat to compete in the race and are looking for more sponsors to help them achieve their goal, as they need to raise at least 80,000 just to get them to the starting line.

In order to accomplish this, along with sponsorships, they plan more fund-raising events which include rowing both the English and Irish channel's and rowing down the East coast for the Siemans Stroke for Stroke Week.

For more information on the challenge visit the website at: www.row4charity.co.uk.