First all-female Scots rowing team embarks on trip across the Atlantic
The team's journey has been supported by Clyde Munro Dental Group.
Four Scots have set off on ‘The World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic 2025’, a 3,000-mile rowing trip across the Atlantic Ocean, competing alongside 35 crews from across the world.
Their mission is clear – to become the first all-female Scottish team of four to row any ocean, while also aiming to set a world record.
The team, named ‘Scotland the Wave’, consists of Andrena McShane-Kerr, 42, Fiona Deakin, 59, Heather McCallum, 30, and Nicola Matthews, 59. They are rowing shifts of two hours on, two hours off, 24 hours a day, facing 40-foot waves, fierce storms, salt sores, seasickness and extreme sleep deprivation.
Each teammate will burn more than 5,000 calories a day, consume up to 10 litres of water and collectively complete more than 1.5 million strokes.
The team’s journey has been supported by Clyde Munro Dental Group, who have provided dental care packs for the race and a free full dental check-up for each rower upon their return.
Protecting oral health is a key consideration for the rowers involved in this impressive endurance journey and where there will be frequent use of sports drinks, gels and energy bars there is an increased risk of tooth decay, enamel erosion and gum disease.
The Clyde Munro clinicians have been on hand to offer advice and guidance. drawn from the group’s specialist expertise in Sports Dentistry, delivered through SmilePlus Dental Practice & Implant Centre in Edinburgh.
Charlie Evans, Head of Clinical at Clyde Munro said: “This is a remarkable feat of endurance by the rowing team and one we are incredibly proud to support. There’s no doubt their bodies will be under a huge amount of strain, and our involvement is to support them where we can to ensure their oral health doesn’t impact on their performance, before they go, all the way out at sea and afterwards.
“For the Scotland the Wave team, it’s crucial to make sure, where possible, normal routines are kept with regards to their oral hygiene – nobody wants a dental problem wherever they might be and certainly not in the middle of the Atlantic.
“My top tips for the team would be to be mindful of the frequency and timing of sugary drinks and gels to allow their saliva time to neutralise the acids that these sugars may produce. They should also be brushing regularly between their rowing stints with a fluoridated toothpaste. It goes without saying that they will need to drink plenty of fluids to remain hydrated.”
The rowers have all taken different paths to the Atlantic.
Andrena, an accountant with a lifelong love of kayaking, mountaineering, and hill walking, assembled the team with the support of her wife and children and will raise funds for SiMBA, a charity supporting families affected by baby loss.
Nicky, a grandmother of six, has always dreamed of completing the Atlantic Challenge since she first heard about it 20 years ago. She will be raising vital funds for RNLI.
Fiona, a single mum of three, coastal rower, and B&B owner in Cromarty on the Black Isle, will take on the challenge just weeks before her 60th birthday, rowing for Breast Cancer UK in honour of family and friends affected by the disease.
Heather, who works for Police Scotland, only began rowing after signing up for the challenge. An experienced adventurer, she has skydived, bungee-jumped and volunteered in Rwanda, and she is raising funds for the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance.
For further information on the challenge, visit: Scotland The Wave | Four Ordinary Women Rowing the Atlantic For Charity | December 2025
For further information about Clyde Munro, visit: Clyde Munro | Scotland’s Leading Dental Group