TEN years ago, this week, a rower who had journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean in record time stunned his teammates by proposing to his waiting girlfriend. Durham University graduate Chris Covey kept his proposal a secret for over a month from his five fellow rowers as they battled the waves. But on their arrival in Barbados, he went down on one knee on the dockside to ask girlfriend Susie Easton to marry him, and the stunned teacher whispered “I do” before bursting into tears. The oars on board Team Hallin did not stop rowing from their Tenerife departure until their revolutionary trimaran vessel passed the finishing line.