Fiann Paul

Fiann Paul (born Paweł Pietrzak; 15 August 1980) is a Polish-Icelandic explorer known for his exploits in ocean rowing.

Paul is the fastest ocean rower (2016) and the most record-breaking ocean rower (2017). In 2019, he led the first human-powered transit (by rowing) across the Drake Passage, and the first human-powered expedition on the Southern Ocean. As of 2020, he is the first and only person to achieve the Ocean Explorers Grand Slam, performing open-water crossings on each of the five oceans using human-powered vessels.

Early life and education Fiann Paul was born Paweł Pietrzak on 15 August 1980 in Warsaw, Poland. In the mid-2000s, he moved from his native Poland to Iceland and became an Icelandic citizen, changing his name to Fiann Paul. He currently lives in Reykjavík.

In 2021, Paul completed training to become a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung institute in Zürich.

Ocean rowing Fiann Paul has crossed all five oceans in an unsupported human-powered row boat with world-record-breaking speed, setting the overall speed records for the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. He achieved the only human-powered crossing of the Southern Ocean and, as a result, no speed record was adjudicated due to lack of competition.

Paul achieved the highest success rate in the history of ocean rowing, measuring the number of attempted-speed-records to successful expeditions. He was on stroke position for each row, the role that sets the boat's pace. His total effort performed in ocean rowing was compared to consecutively running approximately 300 marathons. In an interview with The Washington Times, he mentioned that his resting heart rate during off-shift times throughout the record-breaking crossings was 95 BPM, almost twice the normal resting heart rate.

2014, 2 oceans In 2014, Paul became the first person to simultaneously hold overall speed records for the fastest rowing across 2 oceans (Atlantic and Indian). In addition to another collision, this time with a blue whale, the critical steering cable broke, which forced the crew to manually steer the boat. After sustaining injuries passing through a hurricane, the crew narrowed down to only 3 rowers.

2016, 3 oceans In 2016, Paul became the only rower ever to achieve all three overall speed records (Atlantic, Indian, Mid-Pacific) and the only rower to hold all three records simultaneously. The achievement was recognized by Guinness World Records.

2017, 4 oceans In 2017, Paul rowed the Arctic Ocean, becoming the first person to row 4 oceans and earning the Arctic Ocean overall speed record. Polar Row I broke the existing Arctic Ocean record by a factor of 3.5, despite being buffeted by headwinds 60% of the time according to Paul. Guinness World Records certified Paul to be "First to row 4 Oceans" and "First to hold current speed records on all 4 oceans". Upon completion of Polar Row II in August 2017, in an interview with The New York Times, Paul vowed he would row an even more difficult route. In September 2017, Paul recruited the first team members, Andrew Towne and Jamie Douglas-Hamilton. The row was initially scheduled for December 2018 but was postponed due to lack of availability of an assisting vessel. In January 2019 he recruited Cameron Bellamy and John Petersen, and Colin O'Brady in April 2019. O'Brady joined the project without prior rowing, ocean rowing, or seafaring experience to serve as first mate and aid the project financially.

The row took 12 days, 1 hour and 45 minutes, with the team experiencing sub-zero temperatures, snow, hail, and giant ice bergs unique to Antarctica. The row was completed on 25 December 2019, with the team accomplishing three historical feats: being the first to row across the Drake Passage, the first to row to the Antarctic, and the first to row in the Southern Ocean. The row was the subject of a 2020 Discovery Channel documentary, The Impossible Row.

Honors and accolades In 2019, Fiann Paul was appointed a coordinator for Ocean Rowing Society International, the governing body for international ocean rowing.

In 2020, he was awarded an Honorary Master Mariner from the Association of Master Mariners at the Gdynia Maritime University in Gdynia, Poland. Master Mariner is the highest seafarer qualification, and in Poland, one needs to study for approximately 8 years to achieve this qualification.

In 2021, Paul pro-bono developed a geodatabase that documents the history of human-power ocean exploration.

Other Honors and Awards

Blue Riband Trophy of Ocean Rowing, 2011 Winner of the Great Pacific Race in classic class, 2016 Oars of Anders Svedlund from friends and family of Anders Svedlund Diploma from Military Personnel of Jan Mayen for accomplishments in ocean rowing First recorded complete human-powered crossing of the Barents Sea, 2017 First to row the Arctic Ocean open waters north to south, 2017 First to row on the Southern Ocean, 2019 First to row to the Antarctic continent, 2019 First to row in both Polar Regions, 2019 First to row on 5 oceans (first to complete Ocean Explorers Grand Slam), 2019

Other Performance Guinness World's First titles

First person to hold simultaneous overall speed Guinness World Records for ocean rowing all three oceans (hat-trick): 2016 First person to twice hold three simultaneous overall ocean rowing speed records on different oceans (hat-trick): 2017 First to hold current speed records on 4 oceans, 2017 Most ocean rowing speed records held simultaneously on different oceans, (4), 2017 Fastest crossing of the Arctic Ocean, 2017 Fastest row across the Indian Ocean by a team, 2014

Geographical Guinness World Records

Latitude Guinness World Records

Northernmost latitude (78°15'20 N) reached by a rowing vessel, 2017 Longest aggregated distance rowed in the Polar Open Water. Fastest ocean rowing boat in history as compared to the average speed of any row on any ocean, 2011

Other world records

Most record-breaking expedition in history, 2017