Sidney Genders; Record-Setting Solo Rower

Sidney Genders, 73, who was the oldest person to row solo from England to the United States. Genders was 50 when he set the record in 1970, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. He rowed from England’s southern coast to Miami in a 19-foot rowboat in 160 days and eight hours, averaging 37.3 miles a day. While he was restocking his provisions in the Canary Islands en route, Genders received a letter from his wife’s lawyers announcing that she was divorcing him for desertion. On Tuesday in Miami of a heart attack.