Rowing world record on the Pacific: Traser watches on board!

The Swiss Raw Team has set a new world record: For the fastest crossing of the Pacific Ocean in the international rowing race "Wolrd's Toughest Row", there is much praise and recognition - also from the Swiss watch manufacturer Traser, which has equipped the four-man rowing crew with its timepieces.

Left: traser P67 Diver Automatic: on board for the record-breaking Pacific crossing. © traser

Overwhelming victory for the Swiss rowing team

It's impressive: the Swiss rowing team, consisting of Yassin Boussena, Ingvar Groza, Jan Hurni and Samuel Widmer, which took on the Pacific Challenge of the "World Toughest Row" this year, has set a new world record.

It took the crew a total of 25 days, 2 hours and 21 from their starting point in Monterey, California to Hanalei Bay in Hawaii. The distance between start and finish was 2,200 nautical miles, which equates to over 4,000 kilometres. The Swiss team beat the old record for this distance by more than 4 days and 15 hours, a gigantic achievement. The second-placed team only arrived a full 9 days later. 

The athletes of the "Swiss Raw" team have once again proven their skills and built on their victory in the "Atlantic Challenge" from 2022 - making them the first team ever to win both the Atlantic and Pacific crossings. 

Watch partner Traser congratulates on success

This achievement also fills the Swiss watch manufacturer Traser, which has been the official timekeeper and partner of the rowing team for many years, with pride. During the two and a half years of preparation for the Pacific crossing, Traser equipped the team with highly functional watches. The watches' "trigalight" self-luminous technology helped to monitor the team's rowing shifts at any time of day or night. Traser CEO Christian Leiggener commented: 

"We would like to congratulate the guys from Swiss Raw on this impressive and exceptional performance. The crew prepared meticulously for this immense test of endurance and demonstrated a strong team spirit and unbridled willpower on the high seas. With its perseverance, determination and single-mindedness, the team is an inspiration to us all. We are proud to have been able to support Swiss Raw as a partner and with our watches during the world record race." 

Athletic excellence on the high seas

The Pacific crossing meant an immense effort for the athletes, pushing them to their physical and mental limits: Each team rowed a total of 1.4 million strokes, each rower burned an average of 50,000 calories per week and lost 15 kilograms of body weight in the course of the Pacific crossing. Stormy conditions on the open sea with waves up to 12 metres high, changing weather conditions and unnatural sleeping habits constantly put the athletes' skills to the test. Apart from route guidance and the interpretation of weather conditions, they received no external help from the start in Monterey until their arrival in Hawaii and were reliant solely on their own muscle power. Rowing took place in tandem shifts during the race: Alternating 2 hours rowing, 2 hours resting. They slept for a maximum of 90 minutes at a time. The time between shifts was used for eating, washing and navigating the boat. 

Each crew member was equipped with a traser watch from the "P67 Diver Automatic" and "P68 Pathfinder" lines. With their robust and waterproof design and the "trigalight" self-luminous technology, the timepieces allowed the crew to keep exact shifts at any time of day or night. The "P68 Pathfinder" has an integrated compass ring that allows safe navigation in the event of a GPS failure. 

Strong commitment to the preservation of the oceans 

In addition to the sporting competition, marine conservation was also at the centre of the race. The worldwide pollution of the oceans with plastic waste poses a serious problem for global ecosystems. For this reason, the association behind Swiss Raw decided to donate all profits from the Pacific crossing to the environmental protection organisation OceanCare, based in Wädenswil in the canton of Zurich. OceanCare is committed to the fight against plastic pollution in the oceans, underwater noise and deep-sea mining, as well as the protection of marine animals and species.