From Tulane to the top of the world: Alumni couple prepares to row the Arctic
Hannah and John Huppi in 2021 at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Lisbon, Portugal, where they won a bronze medal.
By Mary Sparacello
They met on the first day of rowing practice at Tulane — two students brand new to the sport. Now married, Hannah Walker Huppi (B ’11) and John Huppi (SSE ’11, A*14) have competed at an elite level and, in July, will take on their most extreme challenge yet: a 1,000-kilometer row across the Arctic Ocean, with plans to break records along the way.
“More people have actually been to the moon than have rowed across the Arctic Ocean,” Hannah said. “So, it’s pretty cool to be trailblazing in that way.”
They’ve named their expedition the Arctic Challenge 2025, and the stakes are high. If successful, the team will set multiple records: the first all-American crew to row the Arctic Ocean, the first mixed-gender team to complete the crossing — and Hannah will set a Guinness World Record as the first woman to complete an unsupported crossing of the open Arctic Ocean. The team is also hoping to be the fastest four-person team to complete the crossing, looking to break the previous record of 15 days, set by Ocean Revival in 2023.
John and Hannah Huppi wearing their Tulane Rowing unisuits while competing at the Copa America regatta for coastal rowing in Peru in 2023.
Joining the Huppis are former New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham and retired Navy SEAL Andrew Tropp. Together, the team will row in shifts of two hours on, two hours off, around the clock, without any external support. And their mission has meaning: the Arctic Challenge hopes to raise funds for two New Orleans nonprofits close to their hearts: Laureus Sport for Good New Orleans and Covenant House New Orleans.
Both Hannah and John walked on to the Tulane club rowing team with no prior experience. It quickly became a defining part of their college experience.
“Rowing has been a huge driver in our life, our career and our relationship. That all started at Tulane with something we didn’t even know would be an opportunity,” said Hannah.
Hannah earned her Bachelor of Science in Management and John studied ecology and evolutionary biology. Both served as captains for the crew team and were very involved in the club sport scene.
After graduating from Tulane, the couple continued excelling in the sport: In 2021, Hannah and John were members of a four-person crew with coxswain that won the U.S. trials, earning them a spot on Team USA at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Lisbon, Portugal. The crew won bronze, beating Sweden in the bronze medal match. Since then, Hannah has had multiple top-20 finishes at the World Rowing Coastal Championships and podium finishes at Copa America. John again competed at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in 2022 and 2023, this time with the Swiss National Team.
In between their rowing accomplishments, Hannah completed a master’s degree in international marketing at the Berlin School of Economics. John returned to Tulane to earn a master’s degree in sustainable real estate development. He now serves as a professor of practice in Real Estate in the School of Architecture & Built Environment, and coaches the men’s and women’s rowing team in the mornings.
Now, as both a coach and professor, John draws on his own path to encourage students to stay open to the unexpected: “I was that person in the back of the classroom 20 years ago who didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but as opportunities came up, I took them. I think that’s an important takeaway for everyone — good things happen when you say ‘yes.’”
Their commitment to the sport extended beyond competition. After returning to New Orleans, where they now live with their 5-year-old daughter, they co-founded the New Orleans Rowing Club and established a junior rowing program to grow the sport locally. They also opened ErgoFit, a boutique indoor rowing studio on Magazine Street.
The idea for the Arctic Challenge came after Hannah’s previous plan to row the Pacific fell through. Hoping to revive the dream, Hannah took a shot in the dark — reaching out to Jimmy Graham on Instagram, knowing he had experience in sailing, navigation, aviation and endurance sports. “That was my ‘Hail Mary,’ so to speak. He shockingly responded and said, ‘Yes.’”
Graham then recruited his friend Andrew Tropp, the former Navy SEAL with Arctic training. Hannah brought in John to complete the four-person crew.
The team has spent the last year and a half preparing — physically and logistically — for what lies ahead. “We’ve tried to up the ante each time,” John said. “We very humbly started out in Lake Pontchartrain with very calm water and have graduated to taking the boat out into the Atlantic Ocean for multiple days at a time. The next step is to get the boat to Norway.”
The boat they will be using is a specially designed Rannoch RX45 ocean rowing shell. It is about 32 feet long and has three rowing positions. There are small cabins at each end where the crew can rest between shifts. John jokes, “The cabins are not glamorous. They are about the size of a car trunk, but they get the job done when you need some rest or need to get out of the elements.” The crew is hoping to average about two to three knots during the crossing.
Each team member has had to expand their skills. They completed a cold-weather training camp in Idaho, where they learned how to recognize the stages of hypothermia and perform rewarming drills. “Instead of just experiencing it for the first time when we’re in an emergency out in the Arctic, we have that training to rely on,” Hannah said.
The environment will be punishing. “The temperature could range anywhere from basically freezing all the way up to you could have days in the 50s,” John said. “It’s 24-hour daylight, but the water temperature is mostly below freezing once we get really close to Svalbard. It’s a pretty brutal climate, and we’ve been testing out a lot of training gear because your first line of defense is what you’re wearing.”
At the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Lisbon, Portugal.
The boat is fully self-sufficient because part of the Guinness World Record requires the row to be unsupported, which means that we cannot have any interaction with land or support crews, John explained. “If something goes wrong or if something breaks in the middle of the ocean, there is no pharmacy or hardware store. So, we have to have what we need on board, including a very outfitted medical kit.”
They’ll also have satellite phones and radios on board if needed.
The goal isn’t just the crossing — it’s to raise $1 million for two nonprofits close to the team. Laureus Sport for Good New Orleans, which supports access to youth sports, and Covenant House New Orleans, a youth-focused homeless shelter that Graham brought to the team’s attention.
For Hannah, one of the most powerful parts of this journey is how it started. “A lot of people ask me… how did I get invited to be a part of it? And I’m always like, I didn’t get invited. I created it. This is my team. I didn’t wait for anybody to ask me to be a part of this… And I think a lot of times people are waiting for permission or waiting for an opportunity to come up, but… if you really want to do it, just pave your own way.”
To follow their journey or support the mission, visit thearcticchallenge2025.com. Follow the team on Instagram at @thearcticchallenge2025 or the athletes individually at @hannah_huppi, @johnhuppi, and @thejimmygraham.
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