​Kelsey Pfendler, born in Lee Center and raised in Boonville, where she graduated from Adirondack Central School in 2012, became only the third woman, the first American – and youngest – woman to row the mid-Pacific solo course across a swath of the Pacific Ocean from the coast of California to the shores of Hawaii.According to Governor of the State of Colorado Jared Polis, the 32-year-old rower, now a resident of Colorado, began her voyage from Monterey, CA on May 21, then rowed 2,300 miles to Honolulu, HI, arriving at Magic Island and Ala Wai Boat Harbor just after 9 p.m. on July 3. After traveling for 43 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes, she was welcomed by the cheers of throngs of locals as she rowed toward the Hawaiian shore.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHer time not only smashed the women’s solo speed record for the feat, reported by the Ocean Rowing Society International to be 86 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes, set by British rower Lia Ditton in 2020, but also the men’s solo speed record for the feat of 52 days, 13 hours, 17 minutes set by Rob Eustace, also from the U.K. who set the current men’s record in the summer of 2014.“What an accomplishment!” effused Polis in a Facebook post celebrating the feat. “Colorado is proud to call you one of our own!”Still of Kelsey Pfendler rowing her 23-foot ocean row boat, “Lily” pulled from her public video journal July 3 entry, a chronicle of the rower’s 43+ -day, 2300-mile solo solo journey from Monterey, CA to Oahu, HI along the mid-Pacific course.Pfendler memorialized her journey in a video-journal, where entries were posted to Facebook and Instagram pages, further to a website tracking the voyage, dubbed YOU ROW KELSEY. The daring rower accumulated an enormous social media following over the course of the row and beyond, where – as of July 13 – 795,000 fans followed the YOU ROW KELSEY insta, while 1.9 million followers tracked her adventure on the brand’s Facebook page.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn a July 3 video journal entry, when Pfendler knew she was less than 100 miles from the shores of Oahu, she convened testimony to her thoughts and fears along the way before concluding the reel to say…“It’s going to happen. I’m going to get to Oahu and I’m going to be the fastest person to have ever rowed the mid-Pacific solo,” marveled the Oneida County native, still trying to convince herself. “It’s a crazy feeling … to have this moment.”For the past 10 years, Pfendler has worked as a Grand Canyon River Guide.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHer record-breaking row was dedicated to raising awareness through a non-profit organization committed to their cause, The Whale Foundation, which provides mental health support, emergency assistance, wellness programs, and educational scholarships for the Grand Canyon river guide community.A link to the SpotFund titled ‘Kelsey’s Solo Pacific Row’