‘The Impossible Row’ Follows Real-Time Colin O’Brady’s Attempt at Dangerous Drake Passage Crossing in Row Boat

Discovery is taking viewers on possibly the most dangerous adventure yet with The Impossible Row, following in real time as explorer and elite athlete Colin O’Brady and his crew attempt to cross one of the most dangerous sea paths in the world, all in a 29-foot row boat powered completely by humans.

As O’Brady and his crew prepare to launch on their journey across the Drake Passage — located between the Southern tip of South America and the edge of Antarctica — Thursday (weather permitting), the team knows they will be taking on unpredictable conditions from a particularly fraught convergence of the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern seas, as well as freezing temperatures and swells reaching up to 50 feet high.

Working 24 hours a day and rotating around the clock, the team will also push the limits on human endurance and grit, all of which will be documented real-time as a multiplatform series kicking off after the launch in December and ending with in a documentary to air on Discovery in 2020.

O’Brady has broken four world records ahead of his Drake Passage attempt, becoming the first person to cross Antarctica solo, unsupported and completely human-powered just last year. The endurance athlete has also set speed records for the Explorers Grand Slam and the Seven Summits and has reached the highest point in all fifty states in just 21 days. Also leading the adventure Fiann Paul, an Icelandic athlete known as a record-breaking ocean rower. The other crew members on the voyage are Andrew Towne, Cameron Bellamy, John Peterson, Jamie Douglas-Hamilton.

“Following my solo crossing of Antarctica last year, I’m continuing my mission to show the world that nothing is impossible. Up until a couple of months ago, I had never rowed a boat. I’m incredibly excited to bring people onto the boat with us across Drake passage, through groundbreaking live storytelling with Discovery, to encourage others to unlock their potential and achieve their own ‘impossible’ goals,” O’Brady said in a statement ahead of his journey.

The whole journey will be shared live across all Discovery platforms, including a video series on DiscoveryGO as well as social media and television updates. For more information on how to follow the voyage, visit The Impossible Row‘s website.

The Impossible Row is produced for Discovery by Matador Content. For Matador Content, executive producers are Jay Peterson, Todd Lubin, Brian Nashel and Jerry Carita. For Discovery, executive producers are Scott Lewers and Christina Bavetta. Colin O’Brady and Jenna Besaw also serve as executive producers.

Photo credit: Discovery