MARLBOROUGH worker Aodhán Kelly is preparing for a record-breaking bid to row across the Atlantic Ocean in under 30 days.

Mr Kelly, 26, who is an editor for the publishing firm Adam Matthew Digital in London Road, is a native of Dublin and a former member of the Irish rowing team. He competed at the Henley Royal Regatta earlier this year.

He was headhunted by skipper Matt Craughwell to be part of the nine-man crew that will set off from Morocco early in January, arriving in Barbados a month later, having rowed non-stop for 3,000 miles.

The crew will need to row in a two-hour on, two-hour off shift, 24 hours a day for the entire crossing. Each crew member is reckoned to burn 12,000 calories a day and likely to lose three stone in weight.

The boat, the Sara G, is a specially designed 11-metre ocean rowing boat. It has three rowing positions and cabins at each end. It will need to carry all the supplies for the voyage as an official world record must be set unsupported.

Mr Kelly said: “As a rower I’m well used to pushing myself to the limits and beyond, but the Atlantic is something I have never experienced.

“It’s something I’ve felt I had to do for a long time.”

Mr Kelly will be raising money for the children’s charity Plan International and its campaign to provide girls in developing countries with equal access to education.

Mr Kelly said: “My partner is an aid worker and sees how girls are treated in these countries. It was her idea for me to raise money for this good cause.”

To sponsor Mr Kelly and his colleagues, go to www.just giving.com/atlantic2012