Fiann Paul


Fiann Paul is an Icelandic explorer, athlete, artist and speaker. He is the world's most record-breaking explorer, and holds the world's highest number of performance-based Guinness World Records ever achieved within a single athletic discipline, ranking above Michael Phelps, and Roger Federer as of 2020.
Fiann is known for being the fastest ocean rower and the most record-breaking ocean rower. As of 2020, he is the first and only person to achieve the Ocean Explorers Grand Slam. For comparison, about 70 people have achieved the land Explorers Grand Slam.
Fiann holds many of the highest honors in ocean rowing history, including the world's highest number of performance-based "World’s First" Guinness titles. These titles are known also as "Historical Firsts", typically awarded by Guinness for achievements such as "First to row 5 oceans", "First to hold current speed records on all 4 oceans". Fiann holds several "World's First" titles for polar explorations, such as being the first to row some of the most extreme major water basins of both polar regions..
He was the captain of the most record-breaking expedition in history, stroke of the fastest boat in ocean rowing history and stroke of the overall speed record-breaking crossings of each ocean. As of 2020, he was the captain of the only three successful human-powered pioneering expeditions into the open-waters of both polar regions.
Fiann's achievements were a major contributor to Iceland becoming the country to hold the world's highest number of sports-related Guinness World Records per capita. Since 2017, his records constituted the majority of the total number of Iceland's sports Guinness World Records.
Fiann is also active in the fields of art and psychology, and has raised attention as someone uniquely combining different fields of activity.

Sports

Speed records

Fiann 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 Ocean.

Background

Fiann was introduced to ocean rowing in 2007 while working for Swedish charity Chiparamba Foundation coaching athletes in Africa.

2011

In 2011 Fiann acted as a stroke of Sara G which earned the title of "the Fastest Boat in ocean rowing history", established an overall speed record for the Atlantic Ocean and won the Blue Riband Trophy of Ocean Rowing. Their course, The Atlantic Trade Winds I is the most competitive ocean rowing route, sought by rowing legends, such as James Cracknell OBE, and endurance athletes such as Mark Beaumont BEM.
The level of challenge for the crossing was multiplied by a broken center board, which broke less than halfway across the expedition. The story was portrayed in a movie One Ocean, No Limits which was broadcast by Irish National TV.

2014, 2 oceans

In 2014 Fiann became the first person to simultaneously hold overall speed records for the fastest rowing across 2 oceans. Throughout his career Fiann broke four oars. Three were destroyed in maritime storms and the fourth was shattered during an evacuation mission on the Indian Ocean aboard Avalon, when a tanker, Nordic River arrived to save an injured crew member, yet began to pull the small craft disastrously into its propeller, five times the height of the boat itself. The oar broke in Fiann's hands while pushing the rowers’ boat away from the tanker, saving the crew from collision, as the crew radioed the tanker to cut its engines just in time.
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, thereby reducing the rowing deck to two rowers per shift; half of what it is designed for. Finally, after sustaining injuries passing through a hurricane, the crew narrowed down to only 3 rowers in total, who had to power a 2-ton heavy boat designed to be rowed by 8. The incomplete crew had to row 2:40hr on, 1:20hr off shifts instead of the standard 2h:2h pattern in order to maintain their course. This extreme challenge put crew members into a lengthy delirium, lasting many days due to severe exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

2016, 3 oceans

In 2016 Fiann became the only rower ever to achieve all three overall speed records and the only rower to hold all three records simultaneously. Upon this achievement, he was awarded by Guinness World Records the title of "The first person to hold simultaneous overall speed records for ocean rowing all three oceans", one of the highest honors in the history of ocean rowing.
Of significance is the fact that Fiann achieved 3 overall speed records in purely human-powered boats, against open-class boats, which are advantaged by partly wind-supported designs on a Trade Winds routes.
In a documentary called Corrida of the Pacific made by Globo TV, Fiann reported that his total sleep time during the first week was 5 hours due to strategically attempting to achieve an advantage by racing ahead, as he stated that it was psychologically much easier to win the race from the front. The world record was broken by 4 days. The next boat arrived 6 days later. Out of 12 boats that announced their participation in the race, only 6 managed to complete the challenge.

2017, 4 oceans

In 2017 he expanded his title by rowing the Arctic Ocean, becoming the first person to row 4 oceans and earning the Arctic Ocean overall speed record.
In order to receive a permit to row to Svalbard, Fiann needed to apply to the Governor of Svalbard, to introduce an evaluation of the chances and the team's ability to accomplish the expedition. Fiann estimated an average speed for the expedition of 2.7 Knots. The Governor's representative declared the claim a bluff, due to the present Arctic Ocean rowing overall speed record being 0.7 Knots and that small sail boats average 4 Knots. Thus, they pressed the highest possible insurance bond, which became the biggest element of the expedition budget. The accuracy of the ETA declared by Fiann deviated by 4h. As per plan, the rowers flawlessly caught the rising tide of the 108 km long Icy Fjord off of Longyearbyen.
The Polar Row I was the biggest record demolition in the history of ocean rowing: the existing Arctic Ocean record was broken by 3.5 times, despite the Polar Row I team being buffeted by headwinds 60% of the time. Fiann stated that the headwinds they faced were "a validation of our manpower performance". Upon this achievement he received Guinness Titles of: "First to row 4 Oceans" and "First to hold current speed records on all 4 oceans".

2019, Ocean Explorers Grand Slam

In 2019 Fiann Paul led the first human-powered transit across the Drake Passage, and the first human-powered expedition on the Southern Ocean. It was accomplished on 25 December 2019 and he became 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. He also acted as stroke on the expedition.

Other information

Fiann 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 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. His record-breaking performance was listed by Grapevine Magazine as one of 7 most notable "Smitings" delivered in the history of Icelandic sports. In this act he was suspected of comradery with Ægir. Presently, he is one of the world's most accomplished rowers.
Despite reaching the top of various ocean rowing statistics, Fiann declared that he perceives the accomplishments of :no:Johan Kulstad|certain past ocean rowers as more admirable than his own, due to their performance taking place in conditions described by the Ocean Rowing Society as "not very different from the times of Columbus". Thus, their level of challenge was incomparably higher.

Pioneering and explorations

Arctic Ocean Open Waters

In 2017, Fiann acted as Captain, Stroke and Head of the project Polar Row, the most record-breaking ocean row and most record-breaking expedition in history. It was the first recorded human-powered expedition and the first recorded row across the Arctic Ocean Open Waters, within the minimum Guinness World Record criteria: "across major water basins above the Polar Circle from land to land... not around islands, within archipelagos or coastal rows, i.e. not within the vicinity of land nor the possibility to get ashore." Polar Row confronted inconsistent wind patterns, diametrically different from the most frequently attempted rows, typical to lower latitude Trade Winds routes. The crew used no sails, no engine, nor support other than human-power. The magnitude of the challenge was amplified by the unavoidable slalom between icebergs and drift ice. Encountering ice is not unique to coastal rows on the Arctic Ocean, but was multiple times more difficult for the first historical row on the open waters of the Arctic Ocean, where relatively high swells threaten the highly un-maneuverable row boat among the drift ice. Prior to Polar Row, non-open waters Arctic Ocean rows and coastal Arctic Ocean rows experienced more static seas and the ability to access land at any moment.

"Devil's Jaw"

Polar Row consisted of two teams: Polar Row I and Polar Row II. In total, the teams covered approximately 1400 Nautical Miles, 1250 Nautical Miles measured in a straight line across the Arctic Ocean. Polar Row pioneered new ocean rowing routes from Tromsø to Longyearbyen, from Longyearbyen to Arctic ice pack and from ice pack to Jan Mayen. It was the first complete, recorded human-powered crossing of the Barents Sea and of the Greenland Sea, some of the world's northernmost waters, which had long been called by sailors of the past, the "Devil's dance floor". Upon completion of Polar Row I and arrival to Longyearbyen, Fiann was asked by Norwegian TV2 how a rower would name the Barents Sea. Fiann responded that he would call it "Devil's Jaw", adding that the winds you constantly battle are like the breath from the devil's nostrils while he holds you in his jaws.

Antarctic Ocean Open Waters

"The Impossible Row"

in 2019 Fiann led the 530 nautical miles first human-powered traverse of the Drake Passage and first row on the Southern Ocean, waters dubbed as "the most dreaded bit of ocean on the globe” by Ernest Shackleton's biographer Alfred Lansing.

History

The Antarctic Row was conceived in April 2017. Upon completion of Polar Row II in August 2017, in an interview with The New York Times, Fiann vowed he would row an even more difficult route. Next he needed to irreversibly prepay substantial sums of money 18-months in advance of the expedition in order to secure the assisting vessel, which is a requirement of the Antarctic Treaty and IAATO in order to receive a departure permit. Maritime law requires that small human-powered boats and primitive sailboats be accompanied by an assisting vessel during open-water journeys within the actual boundaries of the Southern Ocean. Fiann mentioned that it was all the money he had at the time.
In September 2017 Fiann 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 the assisting vessel. In January 2019 he recruited Cameron Bellamy and John Petersen, completing the two-year-long team recruitment process in April 2019 when the final member, Colin O’Brady without prior rowing, ocean rowing or seafaring experience joined the team to serve as Fiann’s first mate and aid the project financially. Colin's participation in the expedition was filmed by Discovery Channel as a series, "The Impossible Row" produced in part by Colin O’Brady himself, whose story the cameras follow.
Just before the team left South America, a Chilean Air Force C-130 crashed in the Drake Passage. The search area covered their planned route. As the captain, Fiann had to make a decision of how to avoid the 150x150 miles no-go zone announced by Chilean Navy. His capacity to deal with the route had to withstand a one-day-long scrutiny at Cape Horn, conducted by the navy officials. Logic dictated routing west of the search area, just as suggested the advisers, because the wind and swell tend to move east while the current moves east, which would likely have pushed the search zone east too. Moreover, for the same reason, sailors crossing the Drake Passage typically choose to compensate west. However, Fiann, trusting his intuition, went against logic and went east anyway. It proved the correct call as the military had shifted their hunt to the opposite direction. Crew member Jamie Douglas-Hamilton said this call was crucial to their success.
Abercrombie & Kent’s Luxury Expedition Cruise detoured from its route to cheer Fiann in his efforts, the same cruise line which in Summer 2020, Fiann is signed as special guest lecturer, among lecturers such as Lech Walesa.
The row took 12 days, 1 hour and 45 minutes, breaking several Guinness World Records. The team experienced sub-zero temperatures, snow and hail, and slalomed gigantic ice bergs unique to Antarctica. Sea anchor was deployed 5 times due to difficult seas. Apart for the sea anchor days, significant mileage was made good against the wind, which differentiates human-power routes from the Trade Winds routes. Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday congratulated captain Fiann Paul in person and commented:
"This row represents one of the most significant human-powered adventures ever undertaken."
Upon arrival to Antarctica, Fiann recited The Great Sea Song poem by Canadian Inuit poet Uvavnuk, cousin of Aua. On Christmas day, Icelandic national newspaper published an article about Fiann’s accomplishment, dubbed: "Feasted with Ægir on Christmas." Fiann Paul received congratulations in person from the president of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. As of 2020, Fiann is the captain of the only three successful human-powered pioneering expeditions into the open-waters of both polar regions. Despite rowing many of the world’s most difficult seas, Fiann never capsized the boat under his command.
The expedition coincided with 2 major anniversaries, the first sighting of the Antarctic continent by Bellingshausen, taking place exactly 200 winters ago and the voyage of Magellan 500 years ago. Fiann commented that prior to this expedition Antarctica was a Terra Australis Incognita to human-power endeavors just like it was to cartographers prior to Bellingshausen.

Approach

When asked what makes one a successful ultra-endurance athlete, Fiann often outlined that love for the adventure is not enough, and that being tough is a must, but it is just the foundation. The critical advantage in his opinion is rarely achieved by men today: good understanding of and communication with one's body, a quality often inaccessible to individuals attached to the cliche version of masculinity. On explorations:
“The last great physical explorations left on the surface of this planet are the boundaries of human-power performance. Every mountain has been summited by a helicopter, but the person who climbs it first is still a pioneer. Every land has been reached by a motor or wind-powered vessel. But many of the major water basins have never been crossed by human power”

Viking mark

Fiann was the first modern day ocean rower to introduce a system of shifts depending on the mileage mark reached by rowers, instead of the more typically used time mark. This system allows rowers to choose how fast they complete their shift and allows the resting rowers to rest longer if the active shifts are completed with a slower pace. Recently, such a system is credited to be linked to the etymology of the word ‘Viking’.

Other information

Fiann is one of two Icelandic members of the American-based international multidisciplinary professional society: The Explorers Club. He carried The Explorers Club Flag to Svalbard, to the Arctic ice pack and to Jan Mayen during the Polar Row, and from Cape Horn across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula during The Impossible Row. It is the same type of flag that decorated the raft of Thor Heyerdahl during the Kon Tiki expedition.

Art

As an artist, Fiann is the author of numerous national-level Icelandic and international exhibitions including several large-scale, outdoor art installations. His work mainly focuses on themes of indigenous people, children, breastfeeding and animal rights.
He was one of two authors of "Dialog", an outdoor art installation that spanned two main streets in the heart of the capital city with photographs of Icelandic children, 2008. He was also the author of the visual art project, "See It!" promoting the awareness of breastfeeding, an outdoor art installation in downtown Reykjavík at the facade of street Tryggvagata in 2011.
As an artist, Fiann was also involved in supporting the welfare of an endangered local breed of horses unique to the Faroe Islands. As a photographer he also documented many of his expeditions.
Since 2009 his Arctic photographs have been on permanent display at the International Terminal of Kulusuk Airport, the main airport of East Greenland. Some of his photographs of breastfeeding are displayed in Ísafjörður Hospital. Together with photographs of RAX, Fiann's Arctic photographs were selected to represent Greenlandic Art at the Arctic Winter Games in Canada, 2012. In 2011 Fiann swam with seals in a freezing pond next to an outdoor display of his photographs at the Family Garden in Reykjavik. His name was officially added to the seals' family list and mentioned along with the other seals on the portal of Reykjavik City.

Intersection of activities

On certain occasions, Fiann raised attention not as an athlete or an artist, but as someone uniquely combining different fields of activity. He was featured in a German TV documentary "On 3 Sofas" as a rare example of a person who achieves notable results in rarely combined disciplines, in this case, sports and art. Once in an interview with Icelandic National TV, Fiann was asked whether ocean rowing was in any way similar to art. Fiann responded affirmatively, adding that "They both connect to Depth". In this way, Fiann was also referring to his current postgraduate studies of Depth Psychology.
In an international television program, Trans World Sports, he was portrayed as someone active in the fields of art, sports and psychology. He discussed the concept of ‘Arete’, an ancient Greek training of young men into manhood, which included physical, intellectual and artistic training. Arete emphasized that development in each of these aspects must be present in order to achieve manhood.

Public Speaking

Since 2017, Fiann has been conducting lectures on the Dark Side of the Hero's Journey, detailing the psychological aspects of ultra endurance sports and the psyche of explorers.
In 2019 Fiann spoke at TEDxBend, where he elaborated on the potential generated by psychological wounds and the possibility of deriving constructive outcomes based on the personality traits related to these wounds. Since December 2019 the talk has been featured by main TED.

Charity and other activities

Fiann's very first creative project to receive public recognition was a charity event that he organized, in which Fiann collected funds and supervised the construction of a new facility building for Götusmiðjan, the center for youth at risk, in Iceland in 2007.
In 2011 Fiann and Natalie Caroline founded Fiann Paul Foundation, which built a primary school in the Himalayas in 2013. The school educates 150 pupils per year. The project demonstrates two of his main academic interests, architecture and pedagogy. Fiann holds a master's degrees in each discipline. In addition to his formal education, Fiann spent 2 years in the Himalayas and 1 1/2 years in remote parts of Greenland. He considers this time as one of the most transformational periods in his life.
Presently, Fiann is pursuing postgraduate level studies in Depth Psychology. He is undergoing training to become a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung institute in Zürich. His main focus is the psychology of ultra endurance performance, and the psychological dynamics within the psyche of explorers and endurance athletes.
He has conducted multiple lectures, and workshops in different parts of the world.
In 2019 Fiann was appointed a coordinator for Ocean Rowing Society International, the governing body for international ocean rowing.

Personal life

Fiann chooses to consume no alcohol. He mentioned music to be his only addiction. The only meat present in his diet is of fish origin, as he states that fish are the only animals he could handle killing by himself. He is also known for eating raw eggs, instead of protein shakes after training.
His favorite places in Reykjavik are Nauthólsvík, and Árbæjarlaug where his personalized outdoor workout is a major part of his daily training routine.
Throughout his career Fiann has mentioned only one coach, Eygló Rós Agnarsdóttir, in an interview conducted in 2017

Honors

Performance based Guinness World Records

Guinness World's Firsts

"World's First" is the highest form of Guinness World Record, the ownership of this title never expires.

Pioneering and explorations Guinness World's First titles

Accumulative Guinness World Records for total number of accomplishments in Ocean Rowing
Multiple speed records exist on each ocean for different routes, classes and categories. The overall speed record however, is the highest type of speed record there is.
Latitude records can only be claimed within the expedition that meets the ocean rowing criteria of minimum distance covered.

Latitude Guinness World Records

As of 2018 his records constitute the majority of Icelandic sports’ Guinness World Records 68% of Icelandic personal Guinness World Records and 30% of the total number of Icelandic Guinness World Records. Other major holders of Icelandic sports' Guinness World records are Anníe Mist Þórisdóttir and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
Fiann Paul and Reinhold Messner were the only explorers to achieve Guinness adjudicated hat-trick for exploration.

Record breaking routes

Low Latitudes Trade Winds Routes, 3 Major Oceans

The Captain of Polar Open-Waters Pioneering Routes (Non-Trade Winds Routes)

Fiann was the captain of the only three successful human-powered pioneering expeditions into the open-waters of both polar regions: Polar Row I, Polar Row II and The Impossible Row.