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Damian Browne is back on track in the Atlantic Rowing Race.

The retired professional rugby player had a rough few days at the start of the row from the Canary Islands to Antigua, as he was buffeted by strong winds and suffered seasickness and cramp.

But on Monday evening he was in good form and reported that he had overcome his early struggles.

“I’ve processed that real quickly,” he said in a Facebook post. He was 19th of the 25 boats which took to the water on Thursday, and third of the solo rowers.

Relentless, the four from Cork and Dublin, also had battled with seasickness, but were making steady progress.

They were sixth overall on Monday, after four days of the race. Just behind were Home to Portrush, also a four.

Fighting it out at the head of the field are Team Antigua and British crew The Four Oarsmen.

It’s been a few months now since Damian Browne rested his feet on the ground, after his solo rowing across the Atlantic. His emaciated body was able to strengthen, his cracked palms calmed down, his tense fingers were able to regain some flexibility, and looking back, he says he enjoyed hurting himself during those two months. Is it really surprising for this Irishman who says laughingly that for his first rugby session, as a kid, in Galway, he missed a tackle, hurt his face, and had a revelation: “It ‘s was as if my body was giving me a signal: this sport is for you!”

He committed himself to it body and soul for sixteen years of professionalism, across Ireland (Connacht, Leinster), England (Northampton) and the Top 14, for five seasons in Brive (2008-2011) then Oyonnax ( 2013-2015). Arnaud Méla pushed alongside him in the Corrèze pack: “He had two personalities. On the ground, he was a strong, tough, hardworking man. He did bodybuilding by hitting the bars, he was very physical and advanced on the ground. And, on the side, he loved to read a cushy book, alone under a tree!

Two extreme adventurers from County Galway plan to set a new Guinness World Record by rowing almost 5,000 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean in 2022. Damian Browne, a former professional rugby player, and his friend Fergus Farrell will row across 4,937km of treacherous sea conditions in a traditional Irish currach in an attempt to break a 124-year-old world record. The duo, both of Traditional Currach Baycrossing, launched “Project Empower” on Sept. 29 by sailing from Inish Oirr in the Aran Islands to Galway City since that voyage will be the last leg of their transatlantic crossing in two years. The launch was also a nod to Ireland’s seafaring tradition as the route was often used by travelers journeying between the Aran Islands and the Irish coast. The 26-mile arduous journey took the sailers eight hours and 45 minutes to complete.

Damian Browne doesn’t do holidays.Or, at least, he doesn’t do holidays in a conventional sense. Two weeks lounging by a pool in Lanzarote wouldn’t be his thing.Some of his most recent trips abroad have involved excursions in locations as remote as the Congo, Afghanistan, Tanzania and Tajikistan. And, in April of this year, he took on a challenge that is scary to read about, never mind physically participate in. You’d think that after retiring from a professional rugby career that took in spells with Connacht, Leinster, Northampton, Brive and Oyannax, a man might relax and put his feet up, but Damian Browne decided to take it up a notch instead.#AD Learn moreWhen JOE caught up with Damian, he was back in Ireland having just returned from the Marathon des Sables, which doesn’t carry the tag ‘the toughest footrace on Earth’ lightly.

To limit Damian Browne to the confinement of any one box would be a disservice. Exuding a calm charisma and undeniable passion for what he has devoted his life to, a sense of adventure is at the very core of his being.

With over sixteen years of professional rugby under his belt, Damian has been using the world’s most extreme environments to test his physical and mental capabilities. Having trekked through the Sahara Desert on a 257km marathon and spent 63-days rowing solo across the Atlantic, Damian has decided to kick it up a notch. Between July 2018 and May 2020, Damian will scale the highest peaks of all seven continents. We caught up with the adventurer to ask the question on everyone’s mind; why?

Having carried out a thorough social media stalk, I saw ‘my life will be my masterpiece’ displayed proudly as Damian’s Instagram bio. “I’ve got one shot at this, and these are the things that feed my soul,” Damian says, delving further into the sentiment. “I want to explore myself and I want to explore the world. Adventures like these give me so much. When I look back, whenever it may be, I want to be very content, happy and fulfilled with what I’ve done. I feel I am on that path and I am very enthused and full of energy for that path, so I don’t see anything stopping me but me – and I will not let that get in my way.”

Leinster are prepared to sign former Connacht lock Damien Browne as a replacement for Nathan Hines, who will leave the province at the end of the season.

Browne (pictured in Northampton colours above), who currently plays for French outfit Brive, is out of contract with the French side in the summer and is set to return to Ireland having left Connacht seven seasons ago to join Aviva Premiership side Northampton Saints.

According to the Irish Independent this morning, Leinster set their sights on Browne once it became clear that former Perpignan second row Hines is to return to France next season to join Joe Schmidt’s former side Clermont Auvergne.

The former Ireland under-21 international, brother of current Connacht forward Andrew, has spent the last three seasons with Brive and although he did not feature in the Amlin Challenge Cup defeat to Munster at the weekend due to a back injury, he is in line to play against Biarritz in the Top 14 this weekend

Former Leinster and Connacht second row Damian Browne has opened up on his experiences rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean – including the shocking moment where he capsized while asleep.

Browne traversed 4,800KM from the Canary Islands to Antigua, spending 63 days at sea on his own.

Speaking on The Left Wing podcast, Independent.ie’s rugby podcast with Laya Healthcare, Browne told Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald everything about the challenge, from the intense training needed to prepare himself to how he braved the elements for nine weeks.

It was ultimately an extremely rewarding experience for Browne, but it wasn’t without its obstacles. Two weeks into the row, Browne was given the mother and father of all wake up calls after smashing his face against the side of the boat after it capsized.