First Woman to Row Solo Across the Atlantic to Address Smith Students at Kick-Off to Spring Semester

Tori Murden, a 1985 Smith graduate and the first woman and the first American to row solo across the Atlantic, will be the featured speaker at Smith's All-College Meeting, the traditional kick-off event for the spring semester.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, in John M. Greene Hall.

Murden made history on Dec. 3, 1999, when she completed her 3,000-mile, 81-day trans-Atlantic journey from the Canary Islands to Guadeloupe. Her previous attempt, a west-to-east venture in 1998, was cut short two-thirds of the way by storms that repeatedly capsized her 23-foot boat, the American Pearl. On that journey, Murden rowed 3,043 miles in 85 days ­ a world record for most days at sea by a woman and most miles rowed continuously by an American.

Murden learned to row in her first year at Smith, where she majored in psychology. Following graduation, she earned a master of divinity degree from Harvard and a law degree from the University of Louisville. She has worked as a public hospital chaplain, as a homeless shelter director and as a city government administrator and currently serves as the development director for the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, an organization that promotes youth development and race relations.

For Murden, rowing and social activism are closely connected.

"If you know what it means to be out in the middle of an ocean by yourself, in the dark, scared, then it gives you a feel for what every other human being is going through," Murden has said. "I row an actual ocean. Other people have just as many obstacles to go through."
Murden is a member of the "Sector No Limits Team" of elite athletes committed to high-endurance endeavors. In addition to her trans-Atlantic feat, Murden is the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole and the first woman to climb Lewis Nunatuk in Antarctica.

More information on Murden and her voyages is available at www.adept.net/americanpearl.

January 12, 1999