Most Skips On A Unicycle In One Minute

Peter's World Record: 237
Where: Moorhead Junior High School in Conroe, TX, USA
When: February 20, 2013

Previous Record: 220 by Qui Hongying (China) on August 19, 2011

How it's done:

This one is pretty straightforward, you need to try and complete the most skips in a row while jumping on a unicycle. Any type of rope can be used, but the trick is that you need to be able to get the unicycle off the ground without the rope catching. So it's really easy to get the rope going too fast if you use a wire rope (the common type used by competitive rope jumpers these days).

Training Logs:

January 17, 2014: Guinness World Records finally updated their main record page with my record! Click Here to check it out.

February 20, 2013: I felt awful today. Not just bad, awful. Yesterday I had an early flight to Atlanta and drove 4 hours up to Huntsville for a show. It was a great night with a fun group of people (also found out that there were a few Brits who have settled down in the area, which was a fun surprise). After the show was over I hopped back into the rental car (which I paid for a Hyundai and ended up with a brand new Mercedes so that was nice) and drove back to Atlanta. I arrived at my hotel at 1:30AM and had a 7AM flight back to Houston. Needless to say, I was tired.

Have you ever noticed that when you're beyond exhausted, it can be hard to sleep? That was certainly the case last night. I laid there wide awake until 4:45 when I finally dozed off for 30 minutes. I zipped back to the airport and hopped on my flight. I had left my cameras and computer with a friend for safe keeping so I picked those up (and my dad who had decided late Monday that he would fly down from Alaska to watch) and headed to the school.

I spent a fair amount of time getting sound and cameras set up so that everything would be ready to rock when the students arrived. I had a couple people from USA Jump Rope volunteer to count the event (thanks to Becky and Miranda). They showed up early and that took a stress off my mind. Then it was show time. The only thing was...I have been fighting a very sore throat for the past few days and it was feeling terrible. With no time to reschedule, I decided to suck it up and let's do the record regardless of how I felt.

I started my show like normal and was glad I waited as one of the local TV stations showed up a bit after I started. It worked out where he was there to film the record attempt. With all the training I've been doing, one thing that worked in my favor today was that I always did my unicycle attempts at the end of a 2-3 hour workout when I was tired. Working off 30 minutes of sleep and a sore throat, this was going to be tough.

The first 30 seconds went great, but the last half I found that I was slowing down way more than normal. Not good. Most times when I did this in training, I found that I didn't slow down much at all during the final half. Sickness was working against me. However, I was very surprised when I saw the score...240. No way! My best to date had been 232 and I blew past that. After the show we went ahead and did a critical review of the count and found that by watching it in slow motion, it ended up being 237. Still, my best yet!

I'm very happy with the results, I would have loved to actually hit 240, but I can't complain with beating the current record by 17. Not bad for a sleep deprived guy. Now I'll be sending everything off to Guinness to get it on the books for real. Thanks to Moorhead Junior High for hosting this for me. The staff was awesome and I really enjoyed chatting with students after we finished. One thing left...I'm going to sleep and maybe I will actually accomplish my goal tonight.

February 08, 2013: I've been working like mad since the beginning of January to set this record. For the past 3 weeks I have been able to break the current record on every attempt. That definitely bodes well for me doing it when it counts. Last Friday I hit 231 which is my highest to date. This week I've been quite tired and averaged a little lower at 227. Obviously I would like to set it in the 230+ neighborhood.

During the training I went on a pretty strict diet to maximize the results. As much fun as it is to sit there and measure everything I eat in a measuring cup, I sure can't wait to be done with it. I've dropped to under 10% body fat and frankly, I had wanted to lose a few pounds and this gave me the motivation to do it. Yes, even us professional jump ropers can put on weight. I was never overly heavy, but I'm feeling much better now that I'm back in the super athlete fat zone level. The downside...no bread for the past month 🙁

Most Rope Skips While Keeping A Football In The Air In One Minute

Peter's World Record: 180
Where: Brighton High School in Brighton, MI
When: March 21, 2015

Previous Record: 31 by Ash Randall (UK) on December 13, 2012

How it's done:

The goal is to complete the most skips in one minute while juggling a football (soccer ball to us Americans). The rules state that you can use any part of the body that's legal for a footballer to use (so basically you can't touch it with your hands or arms). The only caveat is that once the football touches the ground, the record attempt is over, you would have to start completely over if you wanted to try again.

Training Logs:

March 21, 2015: After a few days of cramming some practice in, today was the day. I have felt very good about setting this record as I've been able to consistently keep my speed well above the current record pace. I Missed on my first try at 50 seconds so I was almost there, but was able to make it fine on the second attempt. The record I had to beat was 159 and I knocked it off the map with a new record of 180! I'm quite happy with that and hopefully it will stay for longer this time around.

March 18, 2015: I got word that someone in Japan (who shall remain nameless at the moment) has decided to break this record. He recently broke it by 3 and I shall have to best that. Well, today I did some practice and hit 173 with a miss so I am capable of doing at least 14 faster than his record. I will be attempting to break it this weekend while I'm up in Michigan for a show. Can't let any of my records fall without a fight!

April 11, 2014: I decided to break this record again as I was only slightly pleased with my previous record of 126. Why? I messed up at 55 seconds which left a 5 second window that someone could come along and beat. I heard it through the grapevine that someone beat it last week at 134 and I thought, "I need to definitively set this record so that doesn't happen again". Yesterday I set the record at 142 without a mistake. I was kind of happy with it, but I really wanted to break 150. So I worked on my speed a little bit and met up with Tommy Hager (a good friend of mine and coach of the Salem Skip-Its) and gave it another go. Not only did I break the 150 barrier, I hit 156! I was really happy with that and will send all the information over to Guinness to make that the official new world record.

August 29, 2013: I finally set this record today! Getting the rhythm down on this one takes a lot of practice. I've been at it for the past month and a half most every day. I set up to do this record and my goal was to make it to at least 120. I can't even remember how many attempts I made at it, but it was quite a few. I kept getting stuck around 80 or so and then I would miss. I knew I could hit a lot more than that so I kept at it until I finally got it. Big thanks to my patient judges for allowing me to keep trying this until I got it where I wanted it to be. The lame part was that I needed a break between tries as my calf would tighten up on me.

Most Skips In 30 Seconds - One Foot

Peter's World Record: 132
Where: Cary YMCA in Cary, NC, USA
When: September 25, 2013

Previous Record: 113 by Stefano Vargiu (Italy) on July 02, 2012

How it's done:

This is one of the few records that has a qualification on the rope itself. It cannot be wired and has to be exclusively powered by the jumper (in case anyone has come up with a robotic rope that does all the work for you...call me!). You cannot switch feet during the attempt (thus the one foot title) and your other foot cannot touch the ground at any time. Jump as fast as you can.

Training Logs:

September 24, 2013: Record date is set for tomorrow night in Cary, NC. Did a bunch of intervals today so that I can hopefully push my record a bit higher. I'm feeling confident that I can break this one, the question is by how much.

September 10, 2013: Today I hit 132! I've got about 2 weeks until go time on this one so I'm pushing the training a bit everyday to see if I can maybe hit over 140. Oddly enough, I'm hitting scores that I used to do when I was jumping with both feet. Maybe I'm just as fast on one foot.

September 08, 2013: After taking a day off (sort of, I traveled to Kansas City to perform at a juggling festival), I was back at the training today. I did some intervals to work on burst speed and at the end of my workout I did a video test and knocked 130! I'm making progress. I'm curious just how high I can get this considering that when I used to do speed with 2 feet I barely got above 136-138. Maybe 1 foot is better....

September 05, 2013: What a difference a video camera makes. There is a reason you shouldn't try and count stuff in your head since you're usually wrong when you're going at a pace of 4+ jumps per second. Today I took a proper rope to the gym and thought I was doing around 150. I got home, recorded it and when played back in slow motion, I only hit 126. Still a record, but a bit shy of what my head count was. I started some interval training today that will help me get those last 5 seconds without slowing down.

September 04, 2013: I started training for this record today and hit 129 (unofficially of course and counted in my head) using a borrowed rope at the gym (weighted handles gave my forearms a good workout). I'm going to try and push this one a bit and see where it goes. I'm thinking about setting it in North Carolina at the end of September.

Fastest Mile Hopping On One Leg And Jumping Rope

Peter's World Record: 24m44s
Where: University of Tulsa in Tulsa, OK
When: December 04, 2013

Previous Record: 34m1s by Ashrita Furman (USA) on September 03, 2007

How it's done:

This event is torture! Pick your least favorite leg and get ready to beat it up because once you start, you can't touch the other foot to the ground at all. Get ready and hop a mile while keeping the rope going continuously. Seriously, I would not suggest ever trying this. Once I do this record it will go in the dustbin of history and will not be attempted again.

Training Logs:

November 26, 2013: I will be setting this record December 4th! No more goofing around or quitting, I'm going to do it this time. I went out today with a rope at the park and did 1.01 miles. It was windy and cold (40 degrees), but I did it. I finished in about 22m32s (give or take 10 seconds), not my best time, but I did it with the rope so that stands as my best time while jumping rope for a mile. I leave for Africa on Dec. 5th so I will be happy to have this one out of the way before I leave.

November 20, 2013: After getting back from a few days up in Pennsylvania (and 4 days in Costa Rica), it was time to see if I could bust out this record for real. I did practice some on Sunday in Pittsburgh, but it was raining and nasty so it was not my best time in the world. However, I did complete the mile that day in spite of the weather. Today I was in Tulsa and the weather was perfect and I ate a banana before starting. I don't know if they help, but they sure do taste good. Anyway, I went down to the park and stretched out a bit. I hit my best score yet with an under 20 minute mile at 19m4s! I'm really excited that I've been able to push this record like that. I plan on trying it within the next 2 weeks and this time, I will make it.

November 11, 2013: I've been quite determined to set this record and every other day (or every third day as the case may be) I plan on doing a full mile (with stops if need be). Today rocked. I completed a full mile in 20m16s with a few breaks, but I never put my right foot on the ground. I can officially do it for real outside. I still plan on doing this another once or twice before doing the record for real, but I now know I can do it!

November 06, 2013: I went for it today. I got a hold of the University of Tulsa and they were kind enough to allow me to attempt this record on their track. They had 2 of their assistant track coaches come out (and channel 6 news) and it was on. I made it almost one complete lap without stopping, but that's where the problems hit. My leg just decided to give out on me. I continued another quarter lap before it officially decided I was going no further. I have to say I'm quite disappointed, but I will try this again.

October 31, 2013: I have been talking to a university about setting the record at their track within the next 2 weeks. I will post the date and time whenever we get it figured out. Today I rocked .76 miles in 12 minutes on a treadmill. I can't even begin to express how ready I am to be done with the training for this record, but at the same time, I can't believe the difference all that training has made. The first couple weeks had me sore for days after every session, now I'm good to go the next day (taking into account that I do spend time stretching after every workout). I would love to do this one in 16 minutes and I believe that's a very realistic goal now!

October 19, 2013: Good news, I hit 16 minutes today! Painful, tiring and a bit boring, but I finally did it. Now to figure out where to do this and soon. Don't want to end up with a stress injury as this one is hard on the body.

October 15, 2013: Let me say that when I finally break this record, I don't think I'm ever going to try this again. I hit 12 minutes today which is 3/4 of what I'm aiming for in my training. I can't possibly come up with anything to keep myself from being bored and in pain while training for this. Oh well...there is light at the end of the tunnel!

October 12, 2013: I broke 10 minutes today! This is seriously the least fun thing on earth to train for. Part of the trouble in going that long is pure boredom (not to mention the fact that they've had the radio stuck on a 7 song loop for the past week...Jewel may be from Alaska, but her music isn't very inspiring to jump rope to especially when I hear the same exact song 3 times during my 75 minute workout). I'm glad that I'm getting closer to my goal. Can't wait to get this record over with!

October 07, 2013: Today I hit my half-way mark for training! When I say half-way I mean the goal that I'm trying to hit before I attempt the record again. My goal is to do 16 minutes of jumping on one foot without stopping. Today I hit 8 minutes 10 seconds. Definitely a workout, but I'm very excited to see the dexterity increasing for this record. Only 8 more minutes to go! Hopefully I can do this record by the end of the month.

September 24, 2013: Being on the road makes training for these records tough. Today I was able to make it to a little over 4 minutes without a break which will be the equivalent of about 1/4 mile. I still have a long way to go, but I've beaten the 4 minute mark both of the last 2 practice tries so I am getting better and keeping my progress.

September 10, 2013: I've come up with a game plan on this one. I'm basically just going to try and push my time while jumping on one foot until I can hit about 15 minutes without stopping. Once I can do that, I should be able to complete the mile without any breaks. I hit 2 minutes yesterday and 2:30 today so I've got a long way to go. On a side note: I've found that no matter how much you want to, you can't do this one while jumping correctly. I'm having to develop my ability to jump flat footed which is working a totally different set of muscles in my calf and hip. Lots of stretching going I can assure you.

August 27, 2013: I attempted to break this record today in Juneau, AK. I have to say that this was, by far, one of the most painful things I've ever tried to do in life. The first 1/8 mile wasn't too bad, but man I wanted to quit before the first lap was over. I tried to tough it out and made it to 3/4 mile in 24 minutes (so I was on pace to break it) when I stumbled and my right foot hit the ground which disqualified that attempt. The way it works is that you have to remain on one foot for the entire attempt, even if you take a break (which I took many) you have to stay on that one foot. I will have to completely alter my training for this one and will retry it in the next few months. The 2 big problems are the hip flexor and the calf muscle. I'm not even remotely looking forward to trying this again, but I will and I've got a plan to make it work.

Fastest Mile Hopping On One Leg

Peter's World Record: 18m25s
Where: Highland School in Medina, OH USA
When: May 29, 2014

Previous Record: 23m15s by Joseph Scavone Jr. on June 23, 2012

How it's done:

This record is done by hopping on foot for a mile. Pretty straightforward except that you need to remember a couple things while doing it. Whatever foot you start on is the foot you must finish with. Many people have asked me if you're allowed to switch feet while doing this record...no. Once you start, you cannot let your other foot touch the ground at all. If you take a break, you must balance on your hopping foot. If you're doing this record on a track, you must stay inside your lane for the entire mile. To sum up: Pick a leg, hop on it, don't cry too loudly.

Training Logs:

July 30, 2014: I got an email today from Guinness saying that this record is official now! Click Here to check it out on their page. It also lists a number of other records I hold. Kinda cool. And now since they have accepted all my documentation...I officially NEVER have to do that again.

May 29, 2014: The weather today was perfect! Last time I was out here it was stormy and raining, today it was sunny and right around 80 degrees. I will say that I would have preferred about 10 degrees cooler as hopping on one leg for a mile is a brutal exercise and being this warm does make for a staying cool challenge. Whatever, it's on since the weather is good and I've only eaten a little oatmeal and a banana today. Why? Well, for some reason I find that I do so much better at this record when I'm hungry. I did have to eat something so I wouldn't be starving, but I don't want a full stomach by any stretch. Once we got started, I turned in my best ever first lap at 2:56! I was also half way done around 8 minutes which is amazing for this record. I finished under the old record by almost 5 minutes! I am quite happy with that since my goal was to break 20 minutes and I did it in 18:25! Am I ever going to do this again? No Way, that is officially the last time I ever go a mile on one foot. But what a way to finish!

May 14, 2014: My original plan was to break both the 100 meter and mile record today. Turns out the weather didn't cooperate and I was only able to do the 100 meter record. Probably a blessing in disguise because my leg is killing me!

May 11, 2014: Back when I finished the record for the fastest mile hopping on one leg while jumping rope, I made the comment that I was so glad that I would never have to do that again. Well, it turns out that I spoke too soon. I have decided to break this record without the jump rope. Why? Because I can. Back when I was training for the record with the rope, I was able to break this record and decided that I might give it a try. So here I am training for the mile. Thankfully hopping without the rope is slightly easier since you can use your arms to swing and it's a more natural motion. When you use the rope you can't get in a groove with your arms swinging. I have found that it definitely helps when you can swing your arms while you're hopping. Today I busted out .55 miles in 10 minutes so I'm on track to beat the current 23 minutes 15 seconds record! I plan on doing the record on Wednesday.

Treadmill Hopping - Duration

Peter's World Record: 8m6.5s
Where: Fast Fitness Tulsa, OK
When: September 06, 2014

Previous Record: 4m2.6s by Will Elrick (Australia) on January 14, 2010

How it's done:

As with many other records, I love how straight forward the rules are on this one. The goal is to hop as long as you can on one foot on a treadmill. The speed of the treadmill is required to be at 6.5 km/h (4.04 mp/h). This is to make sure that everyone does it at the same speed so it's a legitimate contest between people. Other than the speed, just stay on one foot and hop until you can't go anymore...And it's preferable that you don't face plant on the moving platform!

Training Logs:

September 06, 2014: Today is record day! It has been a challenge over the past 2 months to find 4 certified personal trainers that could all be in the same place at the same time. I needed to have 2 time keepers and 2 witnesses for the record attempt. Everyone showed up right around 7 am to get this going. I needed a bit more warm up time and camera setup so we didn't start until closer to 7:30. I have been very strict all week with my diet so that I should be in optimal shape for this one today. I started out strong and was feeling great at the 4 minute mark. I had originally planned on hitting 6 minutes, but at that point I was still feeling good so let's keep going. By the 7 minute mark my leg was hurting bad, but I kept telling myself that I could go another 30 seconds, and then another 30. At the 8 minute mark I was shot, but thought that I should at least double the current record before calling it quits. I am so glad this is over! New record is 8 minutes 6.5 seconds. And I am done with one footed hopping. I definitely need to let my hip heal.

September 02, 2014: I just confirmed that I will be breaking this record on Saturday so today is my final training day for this one. I hit 4.5 minutes and could probably go longer, but don't want to push it too hard with the record taking place so soon. I can't wait to not have to train on one foot any longer! 1 year is too much.

August 29, 2014: I have been training for this record for quite some time. I haven't kept any logs on it since it was so closely related to the other one footed hopping records. I unintentionally started training for this last fall when I was training for the one footed mile while jumping rope. When the weather was bad, I would hop on the treadmill because I still needed to practice. When I was flipping through some stuff on Guinness I came across this record and realized that I was already breaking it! Let's add another record since I could already do it.

Fastest 100 Meters While Hopping And Skipping

Peter's World Record: 23.78s
Where: Highland High School in Medina, OH USA
When: May 14, 2014

Previous Record: none by no one on January 01, 2000

How it's done:

I contacted Guinness about setting this record up as I felt that hopping a mile was a bit ridiculous for most people to try. They approved this as a new record type and I get to be the first person ever to set this one! I love straightforward records and this one is definitely that. Hop on one foot as fast as you can for 100 meters while jumping rope. The challenge is to not trip and fall down while going and don't miss near the end when you're getting tired.

Training Logs:

August 04, 2014: Guinness sent me a message today saying that they have officially accepted this record! My very first original record and it's legit (almost so much that it won't quit). You can check it out on the Guinness World Records website by clicking here.

May 16, 2014: Normally I don't do follow up comments on a record, but this one has been bothering me. I can't lift my leg! Taking long strides on one leg will eat you up. I had a couple flights today and the angle of my leg while sitting was perfect. I could not pick up my leg without using both hands to get it started. I'm sure I looked really weird to the people sitting next to me on the flight. The lesson? Be prepared for a bit of pain if you want to try this one.

May 14, 2014: Today is the day for this record! I showed up at the track a little bit early to check things out and man is it thundering! Normally I would be concerned, but I go really fast on one foot so there's no way the lightning could keep up...or something like that. I have been primarily training for the mile on one foot so I know that I can easily make it 100 meters. The challenge will be that I will be taking a lot longer strides than I'm used to. When the time came to do the record, the storm was just about to blow in so we decided to just do it and hope the rain held off. There was a false start on the first go as the camera wasn't rolling so I zipped back to the start line and tried it again. This time things went perfect. No misses with the rope and a respectable time of 23.78 seconds!

Most Skips Of A Rope Wearing Flippers In Five Minutes

Peter's World Record: 558
Where: Urban Fitness in La Canada, CA, USA
When: October 21, 2013

Previous Record: 253 by Ashrita Furman (USA) on November 29, 2011

How it's done:

Fins must be at least twice the length of your foot (so in some respects, small footed people have an advantage here...though they are generally shorter so their shorter arms negates the affect). You have to turn the rope yourself (no double dutch or long rope here). Only successful full jumps count, so if it gets tied up on your fins, you lose that jump. This one is an excellent shin workout.

Training Logs:

January 09, 2014: Just got word today from Guinness that this world record is now official! Click here to check it out on the official Guinness World Records website.

October 21, 2013: I met up with the coaches (and some parents) from the Foothill Forces jump rope team in La Canada to set this record. I appreciate the time they took to come out and help make this record official. After getting all the cameras setup, I stretched a bit and was ready to go! As I've been practicing I found that if I took a 5 second break every 100 jumps it helped me push the record a bit higher.

I ended up with 2 mistakes, but even then I was able to set a new high score for me. 558! I set the new record 121% higher than the old one, so I can't complain. It gets tough about half way through, but as you get near the end, I was able to push my speed and jumps to set the record. I'm glad to have one more out of the way!

October 17, 2013: I hit 546 today! I am ready to rock this one on Monday. I can definitely hit 550 as I took one extra break at 500 jumps that I could probably do without.

October 15, 2013: I love seeing the numbers go higher with almost every practice session. I hit 528 today and this makes me think that I might be able to get to 550 when I do the official record next week. We'll see here soon.

October 12, 2013: I've got the record date set for Oct. 21st while I'm in California. 2 days ago I hit 520 and today I hit 515 (a little out of it today). Can't wait to knock another record out of the park!

October 09, 2013: I decided to mix my workout up today and just focus on this record and give my legs a break from the one foot jumping madness. I realized how much of a difference that being warmed up provides. I rolled out of bed, did a few quick stretches then attempted to do 5 minutes. I hit 422 and my back was killing me. I haven't really felt it like that in quite a while. I went out to the park to take the dog for a walk then headed back into the garage for another go. I hit 516! I guess I do better when I'm slightly tired. I've got a trip out to California in a week and a half and may do this record while I'm there.

September 11, 2013: I finally have my fins back (they were riding around in the car with Alicia) so I can get back to training for this record. I've been doing some shin exercises for the past couple weeks with the idea of helping me keep my toes up while jumping. The tough part is to keep the fin tips up so that the rope clears them and can get under your feet. I started today by doing 500 jumps in a row (with a couple breaks). The goal is to get to where I can do all 500 without a break.

August 08, 2013: This record is a tough one. If you've ever tried to walk in scuba fins, it's tough. Jumping rope in them is even tougher, especially for 5 minutes. I am trying to work up to being able to go the entire time without stopping, but currently need a break every minute or so. It is a tough leg workout and really works the shin muscles as you have to constantly be picking up your toes. I am doing around 475 right now so I'm easily beating the current record, but would like to hit 600+ when I do it officially. After much testing, I have found the best fins to use are by DiveRite as they are extremely stiff and don't get in the way. They also make great diving fins and are the type I use.

Most Bum Skips In 30 Seconds

Current Record: 103 by Sadatoshi Watanabe (Japan) on December 05, 2013

Where I'm at in training for this: 93

How it's done:

The easiest way to explain this is to watch the video. Basically you're holding both handles with one hand and spinning the rope under your 'bum' (British term in case you're wondering why I'm using it). I learned the hard way that you need to make sure your rope is at least 2 meters in length (excluding handles) for it to count. I did the record back in March, but found out after I completed it that my rope was 2 inches too short, so I had to redo it.

Training Logs:

August 12, 2013: I got confirmation that I will be doing an assembly at Glacier Valley Elementary and I will be able to set this record in the very gym that I learned to jump in! Back to doing my 30 second abs by Peter.

July 17, 2013: I found out today that the record didn't count 🙁 For some reason it took an extra long time for me to get the official guidelines/rules back from Guinness and my rope has to be a minimum of 2 meters (6 feet 6.7 inches). The rope I used in March was 6 feet 5 inches. I must go back into training and do it again. No more excuses for sitting around on my bum.

March 31, 2013: I set the record today! I ended up doing the record 4 times (three times during 2 shows and then once after everything was over to see if I could get it a bit higher). I hit 78, 92, 91 and 94 when doing it!

Most Underwater Rope Jumps In One Hour

Peter's World Record: 1,871
Where: Oberlin Program Center in Raleigh, NC
When: October 13, 2014

Previous Record: 900 by Ashrita Furman (USA) on August 23, 2001

How it's done:

You can use any type of rope (as long as it's approved by Guinness). You cannot use any breathing apparatus (snorkel, scuba, etc) and can only come up for breaths between jumps. The rope must be submerged completely for the duration of the attempt. One jump is counted by a full 360 degree revolution. This one requires very good air management and breath holding.

Training Logs:

October 13, 2014: Today was the day for another record breaking attempt. I had a trip scheduled through North Carolina and contacted a friend of mine who is the coach of a rope skipping team in the area. He was kind enough to get me setup with a swimming pool and some counters to use for the record. Jumping underwater is quite a challenge, but I can happily say that I've got it figured out! Up until now I have been training in a 5.5 foot pool, but the particular pool that was available had a rather steep drop-off after 5 feet so that wasn't going to be an option. I practiced one time in a 5 foot pool and it looked like it still wouldn't be a problem. They were also kind enough to overfill the pool so it was deeper than the stated 5 feet.

I setup 2 underwater cameras to make sure we had some good shots to work with for the approval process with Guinness. Once everyone was setup, we got the count and off I went. My first breath had me hit 23 jumps, which is quite good for me. My second breath was close to 15 and then I settled into my normal rhythm of around 7-8 jumps per breath. I kept going at this rate to the 30 minute mark when I was told that I had hit 955 already. This was my fastest 30 minutes so far which was great to hear. I still wasn't going to slow down so I kept going hard. Once I got into a groove on this one, I found that I was able to push my jumps per breath into the 9-10 realm and kept it that way all the way to the end of the hour.

My original goal had been to hit 1,700, but I blew through that with a new record of 1,871! All in all, it was a great day and another awesome record!

August 27, 2014: This morning I decided to go for 30 minutes and see how I would do. I must have been on the ball today because I hit 860 in 30 minutes! Since the current record is 900 I decided to see at what point I would beat that one and I was able to hit 925 in 32 minutes 15 seconds. Based on how things are going, I will be a little shy of doubling the record, but in any case, I will definitely be setting this record at a much higher number. I don't have an exact date that this will happen, but hopefully sometime soon!

August 05, 2014: After a crazy busy summer of travel, I am finally home enough (while the pool is open) to train for this one. I've spent the last year working out all the details related to my rope problems, but I think we've got that sorted now. Today I did a 20 minute test to see how my pacing was going. I was able to hit 515 so I am well above the pace needed to break the record. In fact, at this rate I will be around 1,500 for the hour which would beat the old record by 66 percent. Not too shabby.
On a side note: I definitely need to wear some water socks or shoes since my big toe is looking to have quite the blister on it tomorrow. Even though I was underwater, my toe was rubbing into the ground too much.

June 26, 2014: I finally have my rope figured out for this record! I went out today to do some testing on whether adding some lead weight at different points in the rope helped or hindered my jumping. I think that adding a small block just below the handle helps a bit so I will leave that there. I did a 6 minute test to see where I'm at and was able to complete 152 jumps. This would put me in the neighborhood of 1,500 in an hour which is 600 more than the current record. Not bad. I definitely need to work on my breathing as I was getting to the point of hyperventilating near the end. That all comes with practice.

September 04, 2013: The most important part in breaking this record is getting the right rope. I have gone through close to a dozen different ropes and finally settled on one that will work great, however, I am waiting on Guinness to approve the rope before I really settle in and get my training in gear. If I have to change ropes again I don't want to get used to a different type. With that said, I did a 6 minute practice run through and was able to hit 147 which would put me at 1,470 if I keep that exact pace. With a little practice on getting my breathing regulated I should be able to push it even higher than that....I think. This one requires breath holding, so you take a breath at the surface, drop down and do as many jumps as you can (without the rope leaving the water) then hop up and take another breath before doing it again. Rinse...repeat. Not a lot of fun as I prefer having a regulator in my mouth when I'm underwater, but I should be able to break it. I've been asked numerous times how I stay down when doing this...well, I use lead weight. Right now I'm finding that 18 pounds is perfect for me as it keeps me on the bottom of the pool, but not too heavy so that I can hop up and get a breath without too much trouble.

Most Underwater Rope Jumps In One Hour (SCUBA)

Current Record: 1,608 by Ashrita Furman (USA) on March 15, 2012

How it's done:

To do this one you need to be a good scuba diver (since you will be underwater in dive gear for an hour and need to not be thinking about what you're doing). I will be doing this record with doubles (2 tanks) on my back so that I don't have to worry about air usage. The rules state that each jump must be done exactly as it is on land. Continuous rope motion over the head and under the feet. So basically, one 360 degree revolution is counted as one jump. Your feet have to touch the ground after every jump (I had thought about hovering, but that isn't legal). You have to be deep enough that your rope is fully submerged during the attempt.

Training Logs:

September 13, 2013: I got some awesome news today. The rope that I have determined is best suited for this record has been officially been approved by Guinness! Now I can start training in earnest since I know precisely what rope I will be using for the record. Going diving tomorrow morning so I will get a chance to put it into motion.

September 06, 2013: Started working on the decompression profile for this dive. If you know anything about diving, the harder you work, the more nitrogen loading will occur. Because I will be going all out for an hour straight (potentially at a depth of 45 feet), this nitrogen loading will become a concern. I am a certified decompression diver so I do have some experience with this (and thankfully some friends who are very experienced at it) so I'm able to plan this dive out so it can be done safely. How lame would it be to come up after setting a record only to get hit by decompression sickness and have to spend a few hours in a chamber? Not my idea of fun. As you can see, doing the record is only part of it, planning it to be safe is a whole different animal.

September 05, 2013: I contacted a major aquarium today about hosting the record attempt. I won't spoil the surprise, but hopefully this is the one that will be the background for the attempt. Why an aquarium? I thought it would be way more fun if people could walk by and watch as I break the record vs. the ocean where only a couple people could witness it. It also could be a very cool promotional thing for the aquarium as I will be down there for an hour jumping. Not one of those things you get to see everyday.

August 20, 2013: The most important part in this is the jump rope. I'm waiting on approval from Guinness for the rope that I would like to use for this record. I have tried numerous types underwater with gear on and it's tough. It would be nice to use a 6 foot rope, but it just isn't long enough to get around the tanks when jumping (I will be diving doubles so that I don't need to worry about running out of air at any point and it helps me stay negative in the water so I don't float). Once I get approval on the rope I will be training in earnest as I would like to get this record done soon.

Most Skips On Stilts In One Minute

Peter's World Record: 157
Where: Brighton High School in Brighton, MI
When: March 21, 2015

Previous Record: 120 by Maurizio Zavatta (Italy) on March 24, 2010

How it's done:

The stilts have to be at least one foot off the ground, but a minimum of 3 feet in total height (try figuring that one out). You can use any rope and jump on any surface that is non-sprung. Each 360 degree revolution counts as one jump. Ready...Go!

Training Logs:

March 21, 2015: I was able to meet up today with the Jumpin' All Stars team in Brighton, MI today for this record. I've known the coach Renee for a few years and she was happy to help get some certified judges together to help verify this record. Traveling with a set of stilts when flying was quite the adventure. Thankfully I really don't care what anyone thinks about my bag contents so I broke them down to fit in my bag with all my ropes. I started the day warming up for the football (soccer) juggling record and broke that one on the second attempt. I then suited up for this one. I find that the knee straps really bite into my legs so I put some dish towels on my legs to keep the pain at bay. I missed on the first attempt after only 3 jumps, but blew past the record on the second try. I hadn't really been practicing with a timer so my primary goal was to make the entire minute without a mistake. I am quite happy with the 157 result!

March 18, 2015: I haven't been practicing this one too much lately with all the travel and the fact that stilts take up quite a bit of space. However, I have a trip this weekend where it looks like I will be able to finally break this record. I busted them out a couple days ago and hit close to the current record. I was a bit sick yesterday and did a little practice today. I will hit it harder tomorrow then hopefully knock this one out of the park on Saturday.

June 30, 2014: I stepped outside with these again today (my neighbors must think I'm nuts) and did some practice. The first few minutes were pathetic, but I was quickly able to get back up to 100 jumps in a row. After a few attempts, I finally busted through the current world record and hit 135! I didn't get a time on it, but if last week was any indication, it was under a minute. Now to work on pushing it to 150 and speeding it up, I would love to set it at 180 when I do it officially. One of the leg supports was digging into my knee pretty hard so I need to lower that down a bit so I don't get some permanent bruise or injury. Trial and error are the name of the game.

June 27, 2014: After months of searching, I finally found a pair of stilts that weren't ridiculously expensive! I will say that learning to walk on these are going to take a bit of practice so I don't accidentally fall and break something (considering the fact that my feet are 2 feet off the ground). Jumping on them is a challenge. It took a lot of starts to get the first few down, but I was able to finally get up to almost 100 jumps in a row without a miss. Pacing wise, it looks like I will be in the 150 neighborhood for 1 minute. Not bad for the first day of practice.

August 13, 2013: I am currently looking for the best stilt option to use for this record. The nice thing is that I can use drywall stilts which strap onto the feet, but will make jumping feel a bit weird, or at least that's my thought at the moment. As soon as I find a usable pair, I will start working on this one and figuring out what my weaknesses are and what needs to be strengthened.

Most Skips On A Pogo Stick In One Minute (male)

Current Record: 178 by Ashrita Furman (USA) on May 18, 2008

Where I'm at in training for this: 154

How it's done:

The tricky part of this one is finding the right pogo stick. I have a feeling that light weight people have an advantage here since it's easier to find pogo sticks for them. The first rule is that it has to be a commercially available pogo stick that has not been altered in any way. So much for replacing the spring. You can strap yourself to the stick, but you can only have one turn of the rope per jump. Therefore you need to get a pogo stick that you can jump very quickly with, not high. Getting the right stick is the key here.

Training Logs:

November 27, 2013: I've been putting in some practice on this one over the past week. I hit 154 today with 2 misses, so I'm getting faster. It's such a different jumping motion than I'm used to so I'm really having to work on how I hold my body over the pogo stick as I'm jumping. I also found that I have a strong pull to my right as I jump so I've just decided to go with it and turn in circles as I jump. Not too awesome Looking, but it's about function over form.

November 21, 2013: Because of all the time I've been on the road (and all the training I've been doing for the mile), I haven't been practicing this one as much. I took today off from the mile and decided to try this one out for a bit. I switched ropes up and got a slightly shorter one to see if that would help me with my speed. This one is a challenge as the rubber tip on the end of the pogo stick is not as forgiving as the tire on my unicycle. If I miss, I lose a ton of time getting the rope going again. I hit 124 today, which is definitely not my best, but I did get in a solid hour of practice and even though I'm not getting great numbers, I am working on the form. It's definitely doable, I just need to keep working on my form. On a side note: I rubbed a major hole in the hair on my left calf. Don't know why that section was up against the pogo stick, but it sure didn't feel good.

October 18, 2013: I'm finally getting comfortable enough while jumping on this thing to try jumping for a minute and get an initial count. I was able to get 139 in a minute with 2 misses (which eat up a lot of time) so I am currently at about a 160 pace. Still a bit slow for the record, but not too bad for a week of practice and never having jumped on a pogo stick before. I am still trying to figure out how to deal with my feet sliding around, but I am getting better. I watched some videos online and noticed that it would be best to use a solid strap instead of the bungee cord I was using. I tried it out and it certainly helped keep the stick from bouncing around as much.

October 12, 2013: I have spent the last couple days getting my pogo sticking chops in order. The postal delivery guy saw me hopping on it right after it arrived and asked me how long it took to figure out. I told him I'd only had it for about 10 minutes. Guess all that unicycling has helped my balance. The trick is figuring out how to jump fast enough on the thing. I think I've got the theory figured out as I was able to do around 190 jumps in a minute today (without a rope). Adding the jump rope in is going to be tricky, but as with all my records, I will practice til it hurts...which it already does as jumping on a pogo stick is seriously inner leg bruising work.

October 07, 2013: After much painstaking research (seriously, how hard is it for a pogo stick company to answer an email) I think I may have found the pogo stick I'm going to use for this record. I ordered it today and it will be here later this week. We'll see how it goes.

August 06, 2013: I am in the process of finding the perfect pogo stick for this record. As soon as I find one that I can jump quickly on, I will start tearing it up with my usually insane practice schedule.

Most Skips In One Hour

Peter's World Record: 12,702
Where: Verandah Club in Dallas, TX
When: May 31, 2015

Previous Record: 12,632 by Annie Maria Bissoondial (USA) on April 13, 2013

How it's done:

The rules on this one are pretty easy. Jump on a flat non-sprung surface (basically any floor that doesn't bounce) and jump as fast as you can for an hour. I like simple rules.

Training Logs:

May 31, 2015: I finally broke this record today! Unfortunately not everything went smoothly for this one and I had to fight for the entire hour.

As soon as I started jumping the record, I felt like something was wrong. I couldn't quite place it, but when I missed at just over a minute I really thought about calling a mulligan. Whenever I trained for this record, I would usually not make a mistake until close to 10-12 minutes into the hour. A miss at a minute? Really? I kept going and started missing like crazy, I even dropped the rope! Things were not looking good for this attempt. I probably had close to 25 misses at 10 minutes and I really thought about just quitting. However, I have always had a strong feeling that when you start, you should always finish. Well, it worked out.

At 30 minutes I was almost 800 jumps behind where I wanted to be, but did some quick calculations in my head and figured out that I could still make it. I kept pushing and when I finished I broke the record by 70 jumps. I had planned on breaking it by over 900, but 70 still counts. The official count ended up at 12,702 jumps in one hour and my 11th official Guinness World Records title!

May 02, 2015: I finally made the full hour today! This is one tough record, but with pure determination I was able to get through it. I kept pace for 45 minutes before I just couldn't physically keep it up any longer. This issue has me really considering my diet needs in the week leading up to the actual record attempt. Since I don't want to lose any time by stopping and eating or drinking, I need to make sure that I have all the glycogen energy stores in my body before I start. I will definitely be carb loading prior to this one. I didn't keep an exact count, but based on a quick analysis I probably did in the neighborhood of 13.5k!

April 24, 2015: I've been hard at work on this record for the past few weeks. Sorry I haven't been hitting the updates as frequently, but maybe that's because I've been too busy training. I hit 33 minutes today! Breaking through that halfway barrier is huge in my mind. I have also taken to using speed balls for training endurance into my forearms. I've been doing that to finish out the hour to make sure my arms are getting prepared for how long this record will take. I have got my EDM mix made and have been using that to help me keep my 240 jumps per minute pace.

October 17, 2013: I hit 20 minutes today while keeping pace (give or take 10 jumps per minute). That puts me around 4,500 - 4,800 in 20 minutes which will beat the current record by 600-1500 jumps. I've still got a ways to go before I'm ready to set this one, but I'm getting better at controlling the wire rope and dealing with how tired I am getting. There is one odd problem that has started...I'm sweating so much on my forearms that it's getting hard to hold the handles. Guess I need to invest in some awesome looking wrist wraps.

October 10, 2013: I got up to 15 minutes today keeping pace. I'm getting better with the wire rope, but getting up to an hour is going to be a chore. I leave the gym with my shirt soaked in sweat so at least it looks like I'm working out.

October 07, 2013: While visiting North Carolina, I got a wire speed rope to use for this record. I've been training with it for the past few days and it certainly makes a difference. There is significantly less arm wear, but there is also less room for errors. The slightest change in the wrist is immediately transferred down the rope. Today I did 13 minutes of skipping keeping my 240 jumps per minute pace. I can tell that during the last minute or two I start to lose control of the rope a bit and it's causing me to miss frequently. Part of the training is to get used to the rope so that when I do get tired, I understand how to react. Let me tell you...jumping for 13 minutes while staring at a clock to keep pace is boring!

September 04, 2013: I haven't started training for this one yet, but will do so soon. I'm probably going to use a wire speed rope for the record since jumping for an hour straight will be a killer arm workout. My legs should be fine, but I don't want to be hampered by my arms giving out. I will be doing some interval training for this, but still need to sit down and plan out the training schedule.