When people talk of Sydney, they talk of the harbour, the good weather, and the beaches. But what about our world records?
Sydney is a city of great individuals. It is also a city that continuously brings people together. And when great individuals come together, records are sure to come crashing down. (Featured image: Ken Wolter)
From the weird and wacky to the why-on-Earth-would-you-do-that records, Sydney has bragging rights to quite the number of human physical feats – some a little more serious than others, others more fun than anything else.
Take a look through some of the ones we liked and start thinking about the records you could be breaking.
1. Most Underpants Worn At Once
Steve Jacobs is the (weather)man. He broke his own previously held record of 247 pairs of underwear by wearing 266 pairs on November 15, 2012. Having learnt from his previous attempts, tactics were used to alleviate the pressure of 266 elastic bands around his hips and physical support from others to help him stand. The photo above shows him smiling but go to the YouTube video and what appears to be quite fun at the beginning, turns out to be quite exhausting.
2. Most Plates Smashed in 30 seconds
From the mid-2000s, Guinness World Records made for smashing TV. And Con Damouras, backed by a bouzouki, got up on stage and did what we all believe occurs at every moment in a Greek celebration – he smashed plates. He smashed 86 plates in 30 seconds to be exact making all Australian Greeks proud of their culture and heritage.
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3. Fastest 100m Egg And Spoon Race
We’ve all participated in an egg and spoon race before. Surely, at some kid’s birthday party where more than one lied, tricked or cheated their way to the finish line. I know I did and I still never won. But what about over 100m in the middle of the city with a crowd watching?
Olympic champion and Australia’s golden girl, Sally Pearson, is no stranger to the big stage. She’s also no stranger running with obstacles in her path. But world records have always just been out of her reach. That is, until now. Thanks to a traffic-stopping 100m, Sally stopped the clock at 16.59 seconds, forever putting egg and spoon race glory out of our reach.
4. Longest Marathon Playing Marbles
Marbles caused all kinds of fights back in primary school. I remember a time when the school bell rang saving me from losing my most precious marble, a red and yellow coloured one that really wasn’t cool at all. But I loved it and the kid I was up against demanded that because he was about to win, he had won. No, Jack, that’s not how winning works.
But what if there was no bell? You’d end up playing like Michael Gray and Jenna Gray back in 2006, who played for a marathon 26 hours at First Fleet Park, The Rocks. Talk about playing the long game.
5. Largest Dim Sum (Yum Cha) Dinner
Is it even a festival if there isn’t a world-record breaking attempt involved? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, WSFM‘s Jonesy and Amanda organised a free Dim Sum lunch for their listeners to celebrate the Lunar New Year Festival in 2019. And what better way to celebrate than to bring 764 people together to eat dumplings and break a world record while you’re at it.
How many dumplings did it take to break the record? Approximately 3100 pork, chicken and vegetable dumplings.
6. Fastest Sofa
There’s only a handful of places in the world where people get together and say, Hey, what if we add a motor to it? It referring to normally stationary or immovable objects, like a sofa. But the thing is, they then actually go through with it and that’s how we end up with a 163.117 km/h sofa.
But the best part? The fruit bowl on the coffee table as the sofa charges down the runway at Camden Airport.
7. Fastest Journey On Foot Across Australia
Back in 2002, teenager Donnie Maclurcan ran from Cottesloe beach, Perth to Bondi beach, Sydney to raise awareness and funds for the Fred Hollows Foundation. He completed the journey in 67 days, 2 hours and 57 minutes breaking a record that most likely never existed before.
Yes, this teenager ran across the Outback for two months to help others restore sight to the less fortunate. I can’t even make it around the block.
But if you want to be even more impressed by Donnie’s feat, then how about this: he broke his ankle on the fifth day!