Katie Spotz is the Youngest and First American to Row Across the Atlantic

On the heels of a rash of young sailors looking to circumnavigate the globe solo, a young woman has just earned the title of youngest person to row an entire ocean alone.

Katie Spotz, 22, earned her spot in the world record books on Sunday after an incredible 70 days, 5 hours, and 22 minutes of solo rowing across the Atlantic. Spotz is also the first American to accomplish this feat, according to the New York Times.

What's even better is that her record-breaking mission raised more than $70,000 for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, an organization that funds drinking water projects around the world.

Spotz embarked on her 2,817-mile trip on Jan. 3 when she pushed off from Dakar, Senegal on the west coast of Africa. She packed enough freeze-dried meals, granola and dried fruit in her 19-foot wooden rowboat to last 110 days, but thanks to cooperative weather and trade currents, her journey took much less time.

On Sunday, she finally made landfall in Georgetown, Guyana in South America after she had to detour around strong wind and currents, taking her 400 miles northeast of her original target in French Guiana."I'm just impressed by the way she's got on and done it," Sam Williams, who rowed the Atlantic in 2008 and communicated with Spotz via satellite phone during the trip, told the Times. "She's had such little drama. Most people would be scared out of their minds."

Spotz says she listened to audio books on Zen meditation on her iPod to stay focused on the moment, rather than obsessing about the huge task ahead of her. Of course, the journey was not without troubles. A day before landfall her GPS tracker caught fire. She also developed painful calluses and rashes from her 8-10 hours a day rowing schedule. The boat's solar panels, batteries, water desalination machine and that all-important iPod never failed her. At night, she closed the hatches above the boat and slept fitfully on a thin foam mattress.

"Sleeping was a real problem," Spotz told the Times. "It took a toll to put out that much physical effort on very little rest."

Spotz grew up in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, where she showed early signs of athleticism. She ran her first marathon at 18, has since cycled across the States and was the first person to swim the length of the Allegheny River (a principle tributary of the Ohio River.)

Photo by Katie Spotz via Facebook.