The youngest woman to row 3,000 miles solo across the Atlantic challenged herself to fence 21 matches in one day, going head-to-head with the future stars of pentathlon. 
After becoming a world record holder, 21-year-old Jasmine Harrison from North Yorkshire is making waves with her next mission of completing 21 different sports challenges over 21 days. On Sunday 25th April, Jasmine fenced against some of the best junior pentathletes that the North has to offer at the Northern Academy for Pentathlon, Durham School.
Jasmine said:
I am so looking forward to the challenge because I haven’t fenced in such a long time, although I know that I will be knackered after one fight. I am trying to get my fitness back and I also want to get back to the routes of where I started from. Pentathlon made me into the person that I am, and it is something that I really enjoyed. Whilst I was rowing out at sea, I had a lot of time to think about things back at home and I thought about pentathlon quite a lot.
Jasmine became the world record holder after being the youngest female to row 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua in December 2020. Over the course of the 70-day solo trip, Jasmine faced 40ft waves, two capsizes and a run in with a drilling ship.
Kim Dougal, the northern pentathlon academy lead, said:
It’s not very often that we have someone like Jasmine come to Durham School and compete with people who are hopefully future world champions in pentathlon. The challenge will be fun for Jasmine as she hasn’t fenced in five years so she will have the skills but will need to remember them.
Jasmine said:
The challenges that I am doing are all pretty cool. I want to encourage people to put themselves out there and do something different. I just want people to get out there and try something. You may be afraid to try something new or it might be something you did years ago, and you want to pick it back up again. Age does not actually matter, if you want to do something, just do it.
The 21 fencing matches took place on day 10 of Jasmine’s 21-day mission and she is feeling positive about her remaining challenges.
I feel like I have the world at my feet, and I want to see what I want to focus on now. I need to question whether I want to go back to being an athlete, or do I want to take on another big challenge. Do I want to cycle, do I want to swim, do I want to run, do I want to fence – what do I want to do next? It’s all about seeing what I enjoy and what things I want to do again.
Want to keep up to date with Jasmine’s challenges? Follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rudderlymad/
