First Woman (UK) to kayak the length of the Amazon River
September 2010, River Thames, Putney Embankment, London
b.1983, Carlisle
Skelton is a television presenter and became the first woman (UK) in 2010 to kayak the length of the Amazon river at the age of 26. After paddling 12 hour days for 6 weeks she landed a world record – not only completing the longest solo journey in a kayak – 2,010 miles – but also setting the longest distance travelled in 24 hours by a woman in a kayak: 75 miles. Her record beat that set by a man in 1984.