FOUR inspirational mums from the York and Selby area have been given a boost by a top Olympian as they prepare for their bid to become the oldest female crew to row across any ocean.

Gold medallist James Cracknell paid a surprise visit to Manchester Airport this morning to offer some last minute words of wisdom to Janette Benaddi, 51, from Burn, near Selby, Helen Butters, 45, from Cawood, near Selby, Niki Doeg, 44, from Hessay, near York, and Frances Davies, 47, from York, before they flew out to the Canaries.

The Yorkshire Rows are set to take part in the 3,000 mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge from La Gomera to Antigua in the Caribbean.

Their mammoth challenge is due to start on December 15 and will take between five to ten weeks to complete as they battle 30ft waves, sharks, exhaustion, sleep deprivation and sea-sickness.

The quartet, who all have two children each, will spend Christmas and New Year away from their families, with pineapple chunks and tinned sardines replacing the traditional Christmas dinner.

They are hoping to raise more than £100,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the charity Maggies, which is planning to open a new cancer support centre at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds in 2017.

Helen, a communications expert in the NHS, said: “It was great to get advice from James Cracknell. He has been there, done it, and has given us some really good tips.

"This row to me is about empowerment – showing that ordinary women can achieve extraordinary things with hard work and determination.

"It has been an intense two years of planning and organising and it will be a doubly intense two months with no sleep and rowing continuously on an ocean that really scares me – but this challenge will have a huge impact and make a difference to so many people’s lives. We never expected this much support and we really just want to get in the boat and do it now.”

Paul Gowland, of the air ambulance, said: "It shows an amazing amount of strength that whilst these brave ladies are rowing across the Atlantic, they are thinking of others and helping to save lives across Yorkshire."

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, which is supporting the team throughout their challenge, said: “The Yorkshire Rows are an inspiration to us all and prove that if you put your mind to something anything is possible."