In December of last year, I was contacted by sassy sports entrepreneur and lawyer, Alana Glass who is also the pro sports contributor for Forbes! Alana had come across my story and wanted to include me in her list of Women to Watch in Sport in 2018.

Big cheese!!! I was delighted.

Here’s the full article and below is my interview.

Lia Ditton, Professional Sailor

On a memorable accomplishment from 2017: I rowed from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay, 30 nautical miles, 16 hours non-stop. I was hoping to arrive before sundown, but that didn’t happen, so I had to row between the north and south reef of Mavericks (the surf break) in the dark. I had a plan, a backup plan and a backup for the backup, but my heart still raced.

On what’s ahead in 2018: The bigger picture around my record attempt is to motivate women and girls in particular, to be more, to dream, to have a vision and go after it. We’ve created an education pack for children aged 4-11. The pack will be free and is intended as a science week; or science lesson per week for a term. Our parents grew up with men landing on the moon, but what do kids have now to show them that anything is possible? I am the test pilot. Everyone can be a passenger. Buckle up to be inspired!

On advice regarding taking a career risk: Visualize everything that can go wrong. Then visualize everything that can go right! Commit with your whole heart.