After nine weeks of hardship and isolation, former professional rugby player Damian Browne has successfully finished rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

The journey saw the Irishman travel more than three thousand miles without a support vessel and involved several complications, including capsizing twice in one day, suffering bloody facial injuries during high seas, and a near-miss with a cargo ship.

As he approached the finish at Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua he stopped rowing and stood up in his boat, roaring with relief and waving an Irish flag,

He said: “What a challenge. What a journey. What a nine weeks. I lived every second of it and I still can’t believe I did it."

Browne took on the voyage as part of the Atlantic Challenge, a race that is dubbed “the world’s toughest row”.