Tori Murden

In 1989, Murden took off three months from her divinity studies at Harvard to join the International South Pole Overland Expedition. She was its youngest member. As part of a nine-member team, she skied cross-country 750 miles in fifty days to the geographic South Pole—the first woman and first American to do so. A couple years later, Murden trained intensely to earn a spot on the 1992 U.S. Olympic rowing team, but was forced to drop out of the final qualifying heat after breaking two ribs in a car crash. That would not, however, be the end of Tori Murden's competitive rowing career.

In October 1997, Murden and Louise Graff, an old high school friend and an experienced kayaker, set out as the only American entry and only all-female team in the Port St. Charles Atlantic Rowing Race. The 3,000 mile east-to-west trek from the Canary Islands to Barbados is considered the "downhill route" across the Atlantic, with fair weather and favorable winds. Within hours of launch, Murden and at least two other competitors were afflicted with severe food poisoning. She spent several days semi-conscious in the hospital, then insisted on rejoining the race. She and Graff made good progress for two days before their electrical system failed, forcing them to abort the effort.