AN INTREPID adventurer from Marlow is taking on the challenge of a lifetime as she prepares for an epic mission to row across the Pacific Ocean.

Emma Mitchell, who learned her trade as a teenager at Marlow Rowing Club, will join three other women for the unsupported, three-stage row covering 8446 miles.

The 28-year-old former Wycombe High school pupil, who has rowed in Cambridge University’s Boat Race team, is now in training for the trip next spring.

And the expedition manager is hoping her four-strong team, ‘The Coxless Crew’, can summon all their girl power to break the record for the first all-female crew to row the Pacific Ocean.

She said: “I started rowing at Marlow Rowing Club when I was 16 and have been hooked ever since.

“I like a bit of a challenge and as my job is sending schools on expeditions around the world I liked the idea of doing my own.

“I want to push my limits and face my fears by taking on the challenge of the Pacific Ocean and in doing so inspire other people to take on their own challenges and open themselves up to the opportunities that are out there.”

Emma, who once went to circus school to learn the trapeze, now lives in Portsmouth but regularly visits her friends at Marlow Rowing Club to hop back into a boat.

She is no stranger to adventure, having learned how to survive in the jungles of Belize, scaled Mont Blanc and completed the Berlin marathon twice in two days.

Her death-defying adventure will begin in Los Angeles, with the specially constructed 29ft boat stopping over in Hawaii and Samoa in a trip lasting over five months.

The ladies hope that by the time they dock for the last time in Cairns, Australia, they will have broken the world record for fastest ever Pacific Ocean row.

The mission, scheduled for to begin between May and June next year, will raise money and awareness for charities Breast Cancer Care and Walking with the Wounded.

In order to achieve their £200,000 target, the team is offering people a chance to ‘Buy a Mile’ for £10 and have their name inscribed inside the cabin of their boat.

To donate, or to find out more, visit coxlesscrew.com/buy-a-mile