Today, a naval warship rescued 44-year-old ocean rower Aurimas Mockus off the coast of Australia.
The Lithuanian rower was within a week of completing his 12,000km row across the Pacific from San Diego to Brisbane when Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit him. It generated winds up to 100kph and waves up to seven meters high. He set off a distress signal on Friday when he was about 740km from his endpoint.
Australian search-and-rescue authorities sent out planes, which eventually located the exhausted rower. A naval ship, HMAS Choules, was dispatched to pick him up.
Mockus had been rowing on his own for almost five months.
Only three rowers — Peter Bird, John Beede, and Michelle Lee — have completed the Pacific crossing.
