A Napier teenager Patrick Cooper, Set a new Guinness World Record for Longest Consecutive Swing.
The 17-year-old spent 36 hours swinging in Taradale to beat the current record for the world’s longest swing, but mainly to raise money for Starship Hospital.
Cooper started at 10.23am on Saturday and finished at 10.23pm on Sunday. He was originally supposed to start at 8am, but slept through six alarms. At Taradale Park he was rained on and blasted by the wind, with a jacket his only means of shelter. Cooper was allowed a five-minute break for every hour of the swing, but those breaks could be accumulated.
Cooper swung his first nine hours without taking any breaks, meaning he had stacked up a 45-minute intermission before having to get back on. “Until about the last six hours, I wasn’t in pain and I wasn’t feeling too sore. I just kept going,”
“One thing that did almost put me off was getting through dawn. There was this period from about 3am to 7am that was hard. Every minute felt extremely long, and I got quite sleepy. I had a few energy drinks and that perked me up.”
On Monday morning Cooper said he felt “pretty tired” and had a “few stiff joints,” but “felt good” in general.
He had raised $2300 for Starship Hospital, and people were still able to donate if they wished.
The world record for the longest swing was attempted by a Taradale Teenager, Charlie O’Brien, but due to a two-hour camera glitch, he never sent in his attempt.
“Regardless of whether I get an award or not, I know I still swung for 36 hours and I still get to send the money to Starship, and that’s the most important thing to me.”
Napier teenager beats current world record by swinging 36 hours on a park swing https://t.co/DSgTU4Y5cM
— jason statt (@StattB105) March 9, 2021