THEY did it... Rowing enthusiasts Sarah Luxton and Lucy Bufton broke a world record in Teignmouth and raised more than £2,000 for the Devon Air Ambulance.

Very tired but elated and proud is how Sarah and Lucy described how they both felt after their marathon charity row into the record books.

Their record attempt on the longest continuous Tandem Ergo-Row took place outdoors at the town’s Seasports Watersports Centre.

‘It was extremely hard work but with over £2,100 on our justgiving page for the Devon Air Ambulance it was well worth it,’ said Sarah.

Sarah and Lucy had set themselves the ultimate challenge and took turns to keep the fly wheel turning from midnight on Saturday and onwards to Monday, May 3 – totting up a gruelling 60 hours of rowing.

The current world record for this challenge in Sarah and Lucy’s age category was 24 hours and the overall record was 50 hours. Aiming for 60 hours these women were well ahead of anybody who has attempted to break the record before.

‘A lot of money has also been donated in our collection boxes so we’re hoping that our target of £2500 will be passed.’

Starting as the clock turned midnight on Saturday the duo rowed in two hour shifts, two hours on and two hours off, which meant sleep was not easy to come by.

‘I managed about 10 hours in total,’ added Sarah. ‘But Lucy didn’t find as easy to nod off and had a few hours less.

Unseasonably cold weather for May also added to the challenge.

‘The nights were very cold, dipping down to near freezing point,’ said Lucy.

‘It was sapping both mentally and physically and rowing in those temperatures at 3am in the morning was not fun.’

However, both girls agreed that the support they had over the 60 hours had been been fantastic.

’Special thanks must go to Sue and Tim from Seasports who allowed us to use their facilities over the three days,’ said Lucy.

‘And the support we’ve had from fellow rowers who came to join us at all hours of the day and night, plus people who turned up just to bring us cakes and porridge to keep our spirits up was brilliant,’ added Sarah

The pair were also pleased and surprised that former air ambulance patients had turned up to support them.

‘We had I think five people turn up over the three days who had been assisted by the air ambulance just to wish us well’ said Sarah.

Both rowers stepped away from the rowing machines with the same thought in mind.

’Right now we’re looking forward to a very long soak in a hot-tub,’ they both agreed.

You can still show your support for Sarah, Lucy and Devon Air Ambulance, donate to their fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/