A Massachusetts native is among the four women who are aiming to break a world record by rowing 2,800 miles across the Pacific Ocean this June.

Leominster native Kaitlyn Piltzecker is joining sisters Megan and Gabe Guefen and Hannah Byrd as a members of Rowing Oceans For Women, which they formed after watching another all-woman team set a world record during a different race.

“I think I knew that this was something that I wanted to do, instantly, and that this was my opportunity that I had been waiting for,” Piltzecker said.

Beginning June 8, the team will row from California to Hawaii and will eat and sleep on their boat, rowing 24-hours a day in shifts of two hours on and two hours off. They’re aiming to break the 44-day record set two years ago.

They’re also doing it for a good cause, all of the money they raise will be for Women’s Sports Foundation and the Hawaii Domestic Violence Shelter. The journey will also be a tribute to Gabe and Megan’s mother, Julie, who recent passed away.

The women say their main goal above all else is to encourage women everywhere to follow their dreams.

Learn more: https://www.rowingoceans4women.com/

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