TRAVERSE CITY- Julie Bennett is a self-described ‘adult-onset athlete’. She began rowing just 15 years ago after moving to the Grand Rapids area, yet she is preparing to take on a challenge only the best rowers in the world attempt: 2,800 miles across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii.
“I’ve been aware of the company world’s toughest row. They’re the ones who do the Atlantic and the Pacific row. There are other, other smaller groups that do that.
But they are very widely known and well respected. And I’ve been a dot watcher because I’ve watched other people and their boat’s kind of across the, across the way so it’s in the back of my mind, it’s always been, hey, I, you know, I grew up around Lake Michigan and just almost an ocean, right? So I think I can do this” (Julie Bennett).
Right now, the Leelanau County native competes in local and national regattas along with many hours of training and is a certified rowing coach. She’s also the president of the Grand Rapids Rowing Club and just can’t get enough of the sport.
“It’s really cool because it’s an individual sport where the better you are, the better trained you are, the better your boat will move. You can move your boat, but it’s also a team sport. So I love it because it’s individual, but it’s also group, it’s therapy and it’s exercise” (Bennett).
She teamed up with three other rowers to attempt the ‘World’s Toughest Row’ in 2026, and preparation is well underway.
“A lot of it is just coming together as a team, trusting each other as a team, knowing what your mission is. But 2800 miles is about 4,000,000m and so will each be rowing relatively 1,000,000m in, you know, a couple of months.
But, it’s just that mental, you know? Can I be on the oars for two hours? Can I be on this boat with these four women for 50 days?”
50 days battling the waters, whether sleep deprivation and fatigue.
“So in a 24 hour period, everybody’s rowing 12 hours with a buddy and then you have two hours off. So during the two hours off, we’re going to be eating, we’re going to be sleeping. We’re going to be, checking the navigation, checking our GPS, getting instruction from our safety team, maybe scraping barnacles off the side of the boat, whatever needs to be done, fixing a dagger board or a rudder because anything that gets anything that goes wrong, we have to fix.
Meditation and prayer is part of it, keeping a close contact with my local friends and my family and my church group. That’s all part of it, too, because that will boost our motivation once we’re on the water”.
Their team’s name is MOAR THAN US. And while completing the journey is an incredible achievement, it’s about more than just the rowing for her team.
“I’ll quote one of my team members. She said, I want to get to the point where I can I don’t have to say I might do that, or I could do that and get to the point where I say, I did do that, you know? So it’s a personal accomplishment for each one of the rowers on the boat just to say, I rode the Pacific Ocean, and it means that we have a platform now to speak out for our charities. You know, we have wounded warriors, American Cancer Society, and my personal charity is Eating Disorder Foundation because I have had, grew out of an eating disorder and, so that’s really dear to my heart. So we’re hoping that this row not only is an accomplishment in the in a physical way, but it provides for us a platform to speak out for our charities”
You can support Julie and her team by going to Moar Than Us and sponsor essential items such as food and parts.
“I’m honored to do this. I’m excited because I’m the first woman in Michigan to be able to do that. So I, I carry that honor and want to respect my, upbringing and my faith. And the fact that I’m going to be rowing for the people in this area, like, I love the Traverse City area and Leelanau County. And so, I’m just honored to be part of this group to do it” (Bennett).