An Oxford kayaker- turned-rower who is set to row across the Atlantic for charity will also be taking part in a physiological study with Oxford Brookes University during the trip.
Nathaniel Spring, 29, of Charles Street, Oxford, and his best friend William Stableforth, a Derbyshire doctor, will help Dr Richard Craven, of Oxford Brookes University, study how oxygen is used and energy is consumed during the 3,000-mile journey.
From January 20, 2004, the friends will travel from St Sebastian de la Gomera in the Canary Islands to Port St Charles, Barbados. They aim to complete the journey in about 70 days and hope to raise £10,000 for Katharine House Hospice, near Banbury, and the Community Boathouse for Oxford project.
They have been tested on a rowing machine at Brookes to establish their individual physiological abilities before they begin the challenge.
The rowers will wear heart-rate monitors at set points during the row.
Mr Spring, who works as a conservationist in Oxford, said: "The row offers a great opportunity to study how the body adapts to a long period of sustained exercise. This is a piece of original research and it adds an extra dimension to our trip."
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