Media
Previous Coverage
Links to articles, interviews and other news coverage.
Katie Spotz, 22, To Row Solo Across the Atlantic
Talk of the Nation, December 17, 2009
One 22-year-old woman, two oars, three months worth of dehydrated food and 2,500 miles of open water. Tomorrow, Katie Spotz leaves her home in – home state of Ohio for Senegal, where she plans to launch her 19-foot row boat into the ocean for a solo journey across the Atlantic some time around New Year’s Day. If she makes it, she becomes the youngest person to row across an ocean alone…
Mentor’s Katie Spotz prepares for an improbable quest: Rowing the Atlantic Ocean
By Jodie Valade, Plain Dealer, December 15, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Any number of catastrophes could befall Katie Spotz in the next three months. She knows them all, and will rattle off all the potential and likely issues that could arise when she’s by herself, surrounded by the nothingness of the Atlantic Ocean.
There are salt sores. Blisters. Dehydration. Sunburn. Seasickness. Exhaustion. Loneliness. Landfall. Freighters. Sharks. Storms…
Rower Katie Spotz’s workout makes her shipshape: Stretching Out
By Zachary Lewis, Plain Dealer, December 1, 2009
In the pictures on her Web site,” Row for Water,” Katie Spotz of Mentor looks more like a model than an athlete, with her gentle smile, fair complexion and long, sandy hair.
Don’t be fooled. Spotz is one seriously tough cookie, the kind of person whose everyday workout leaves me…
Local woman preparing to row across the Atlantic
WKYC-TV, November 21, 2009
CLEVELAND — She was an average athlete in high school, but she’s making up for that now with several endurance challenges, benefitting great causes.
Katie Spotz, 22, will attempt to become the youngest person ever to row across an ocean solo and the first American…
Rotary puts focus on ‘Water for Life’
By Joan Demirjian, Chagrin Valley Publishing, November 18, 2009
Chagrin Valley Rotary Club member Jeff Griff stood in front of a crowd of Rotary members and held up a pitcher of murky water with sediment on the bottom. “Want a drink?” he asked as he addressed members and guests Nov. 14 at the Rotary’s “Water for Life” event…
Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor works out in the channels Wednesday at Mentor Harbor Yacht Club. She will be the youngest person to do a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean in December. ?Mentor woman, 22, aims to make history with cross-Atlantic row
By Amanda Rabinowitz , WKSU Public Radio , November 16, 2009
A Mentor woman who, at the age of 22, has already made history in endurance challenges is about to begin her most ambitious one yet.
Katie Spotz has run marathons, swum hundreds of miles…
Driven to extremes
By Emily Ford, Third Sector, October 5, 2009
They row, they climb, they cycle across deserts – they even do pantomine. Emily Ford meets the extreme fundraisers. Completing a marathon to raise a few thousand pounds is a crowning achievement for most amateur fundraisers. But some people prefer a more extreme challenge. They are not professional athletes or events organisers, but they choose to give up months of their lives to carry out extraordinary feats, raising large amounts for charities…
Young Cleveland Area Woman Will Row Solo Across Atlantic Ocean to Promote Safe Drinking Water
By Stefanie Spear, EcoWatch Journal, August 2009
Endurance athlete Katie Spotz is training for her biggest challenge to date—becoming the youngest person to row solo across an ocean and the first American to row solo from Africa to South America. Spotz, 21, of Mentor, Ohio, near Cleveland, plans to use her unique aspiration to raise funds and awareness for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, a charitable organization…
Local Girl Talks About Plan to Row Across the Atlantic
Fox 8 News in the Morning, July 27, 2009
Mentor woman committed to a cause
By Betsy Scott, News-Herald, June 20, 2009
Those who meet Katie Spotz might be surprised to learn that she wasn’t particularly athletic growing up. “In high school I was probably the slowest on my teams,” said the 22-year-old Mentor resident. “But endurance I could do.” And endure she has, taking on several grueling fitness challenges for various good causes in the last few years. The latest feat will be her toughest yet…
Mentor: Local endurance athlete set to row across Atlantic
By Lynn Olszowy, WKYC, June 18, 2009
Katie Spotz loves a challenge. Katie, 22, of Mentor, became the first person to swim the 352-mile Allegheny River, has biked across America to benefit the American Lung Association in memory of her grandmother, run the Mojave and Colorado Desert, and finished a 62-mile ultra marathon in Melbourne, Australia…
GaREAT things are happening
By Shelley Terry, Star Beacon, April 26, 2009
Endurance athlete Katie Spotz trains daily for her biggest challenge to date – becoming the youngest person to row solo across an ocean and the first American to row from Africa to South America. Spotz, 22, of Mentor, plans to row 2,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean…
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life is but a Dream for Katie Spotz
YouthNoise, March 21, 2009
Don’t let Katie Spotz’ sweet smile fool you, she is one tough cookie. At 21 years old, Katie has already biked across the USA and swam the Allegheny river (a 352 mile river!). She has done a half iron-man, getting first place in her age group, and ran across the Mojave…
First the Allegheny, next the Atlantic for Katie Spotz ’08
Warren Wilson College, November 2008
Michael Phelps wasn’t the only swimmer to make a big splash this past summer. Recent Warren Wilson graduate Katie Spotz became the first person…
An Interview with Katie Spotz
By Vanessa Orr, Walls are Bad, November 13, 2008
This past summer, Katie Spotz, 21, swam the length of the Allegheny River, raising money for charity and becoming the first person to complete this feat. An endurance athlete now living in Mentor, Ohio, the recent college graduate took time from her busy schedule to talk to WAB about her adventurous life.
Blue Ridge All Stars
By Jedd Ferris, Blue Ridge Outdoors, November 2, 2008
Instead of celebrating her college graduation with parties and a carefree summer, Katie Spotz became the first person to swim the entire 352-mile Allegheny River….
International Coverage
Various sources, August 22, 2008
Russia AmericaRU
New Zealand AOL News
Iran Alalam
India WebIndia123.com
Taiwan The China Post
Italy The Instablog
Germany Willkommen zu Iconocast
Switzerland Ticinonline
Italy Sicilia Informazioni
Woman, 21, Completes 325-Mile Swim of Pa. River
ABC News, August 22, 2008
A 21-year-old woman completed a 325-mile swim of the Allegheny River, a month after beginning her journey. Perhaps the end came too soon. “I love swimming. I could keep going,” said Katie Spotz on Thursday, a couple minutes after emerging from the river at the base of the fountain at Point State Park, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers form the Ohio…
Take me to the river
By Daniel Malloy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 22, 2008
By her own admission, Katie Spotz was no swimming star at her high school in Mentor, Ohio. In fact, she was one of the worst on the team. “I’m slow,” she said. “But endurance I can do.”Steadily, incredibly, Ms. Spotz, 21, demonstrated those endurance abilities…
Ohio Woman swimming length of Allegheny River
By The Tribune-Review News Service, August 18, 2008
With Point State Park almost in her sights, swimmer Katie Spotz is close to a feat that not even super-Olympian Michael Phelps has accomplished. Spotz, 21…
Ohio Woman Swimming the Entire Length of the Allegheny River
The Cleveland Leader, August 18, 2008
Katie Spotz , 21, of Mentor, Ohio, is nearing the end of an amazing feat. She expects that by Wednesday morning she will become the first person to swim the 325-mile length of the Allegheny River…
Thinking outside the (shoe) box
CSUMB, December 2006
After running thousands of miles, Katie Spotz understands the importance of a good pair of training shoes. It’s so important that she’s started a club on campus that is helping to provide running shoes to athletes around the world…
A ‘Big Ride’ for a big cause
By Bethy DeLong, Kent Stater, April 14, 2006
Many students may spend their summer working, traveling or just relaxing. But for one student, a plan of riding her bike across the country is at the top of her priorities. Katie Spotz, first-year nutrition major, will ride her bike…
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