Skiers fail to break Guinness record

National record under review
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

Skiers failed to break a Guinness World Records mark for most barefoot skiers behind one boat, but might have set a new National Show Ski Association (NSSA) record after hitting the Wolf River on Sept. 12.

Shawano Ski Sharks members and other water skiers teamed up to form the Big Pull event and were trying to break the Guinness World Records mark of 38 barefoot skiers behind one boat, a mark that was established in Shawano in 2019. The group was unsuccessful in achieving that feat, but believe they may have set a NSSA record with a 40-person barefoot line.

“The criteria for Guinness and National is very different,” said Eric Gran, who sets up and plans Big Pull events. “So, the National record is everybody has to be on their feet for five seconds, where the world record, we have to go 300 meters or longer, which is significantly longer when you do that.”

Video of the 40-person barefoot line has been sent to USA Water Ski, and their committee will review all the video footage and see if the skiers met all the criteria. The committee will vote on the potential new record at its mid-November meeting in Florida.

When discussing why the group fell short of the Guinness record, Gran mentioned the boats the skiers were behind. He believes that a bigger boat would be needed, otherwise the current record of 38 won’t be broken.

A triple 300R Mercury boat was used in the attempts to break the record. Gran mentioned needing a triple 400R boat to get the job done, as the 300R didn’t bring the skiers up to a great enough speed.

“We would like to have 40 (miles per hour), that’s an ideal speed for us,” said Gran. “When we got the big number of footers out there, we weren’t breaking 38. You wouldn’t think two miles an hour makes a big difference, but on your bare feet, it makes a huge difference.”

Despite the failure to post a new Guinness record, Gran and the rest of the skiers enjoyed the experience and challenge it presented.

Gran also made it a point to highlight the community support that Shawano gave to the event. Water patrol was out on the river making sure everyone participating was safe and that no other boats got in the way. He also mentioned the ambulance service, police, sheriff and department of public works for helping put on the event.

“It’s a great community to have this happen in,” said Gran.

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