Atlantic Ocean Valour rowing pair in 24-hour record

Lawrence Walters and Tom Rainey aim to become the youngest two-man team to row 3,800 miles from New York to the UK

Two men rowing the Atlantic have covered a record 112.5 nautical miles (208km) in 24 hours.

Tom Rainey, 23, from Devon and Lawrence Walters, 23, from Hampshire broke the 24-hour ocean rowing record by nearly 10 nautical miles.

Their feat was validated by Guinness World Records adjudicators for the sport, the Ocean Rowing Society.

Team Ocean Valour are raising funds for the Brain Tumour Charity in memory of Tom's father who died from the disease.

The pair set off from New York to Salcombe, Devon on 3 May.

The record hope follows a frustrating period of being dragged in circles during bad weather

The data came from the team's satellite tracker between 14:00 on 30 May and 14:00 on 31 May.

They are hoping to beat the record of 103.9 nautical miles set by an eight-man crew crossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Barbados in the winter of 2014/15.

Ocean Valour has been pushed along by favourable winds and currents after a frustrating period in which the team were pulled in circles by currents during bad weather.

They still have more than 2,000 nautical miles (3,700km) left to go before they can pick up a claim a second record as the youngest team to complete the treacherous route.

Team spokesman Chris Martin said: "They have had some significant challenges over the last 10 days or so, so this is a great boost for them.

"A large part of it is getting in the right place at the right time and they have put themselves in that place."

The pair, who have capsized once, are taking it in turns to row for an hour each..

Mr Martin said one of their next challenges would be avoiding the Labrador Current coming from the north which could affect their progress on the Gulf Stream Drift which is pulling the pair across the Atlantic.