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April 16th, 2010
Del City student aims for Guinness World Records
Some world records are just begging to be broken, while others, perhaps, should be left alone. One Del City man is on a mission to break a world record using nothing but his sense of balance and his skateboard.
Arguably, the gold standard of world records recognition is the Guinness World Records, which logs feats and accomplishments from the seemingly ordinary to the unusual and arcane. The records celebrate those with the world's longest fingernails, the oldest male stripper and the fastest time to pluck a turkey, just to name a few. Aaron Shirazi, 18, has no ambitions to unseat the stripper or begin adding inches to his fingernails, but he is seeking to break the world record for a skateboard maneuver that involves balancing on the back two wheels for more than a minute.
Some feats chronicled by Guinness involve dangerous stunts with the very real possibility of injury or death, like sword swallowing. Others place the record holder in great peril, such as the man who holds the record for dangling 10 live rattlesnakes from his mouth. Shirazi is not putting his life on the line, save the possibility of falling off the skateboard and suffering a bruise or a nasty bump on the head. Instead, he simply hopes to bring the record to Del City for a stationary manual wheelie.
But Shirazi is not the first to attempt a record time performing the stunt. To win, he must unseat Rob Dyrdek, an actor and professional skateboarder who boasts about a dozen skateboarding world records. His records include the stationary manual, with a time of 49 seconds set in 2007.
Shirazi has been skating since he was 13. Last year, he was performing the stunt when friends told him of Dyrdek's record.
"They told me the time, and I said, That's not that long,'" he said. "I tried it right there, and they timed me on their cell phones."
UNOFFICIALLY BROKEN
Based on the unofficial experiment, Shirazi broke the record. Then he did it again and again. Since then, he has been repeatedly breaking the record times. He decided to contact the folks at Guinness to see what it would take to be listed as the world record holder. Shirazi is already recognized as the world record holder for the stationary manual by the lesser-known World Records Academy.
With that accolade under his belt, Shirazi has his sights on shattering the Guinness record. He is submitting the paperwork, witness signatures, videos and documentation to Guinness in a lengthy process for certification as a new world record holder. With all of the required material in hand, Shirazi will submit the information, then sit tight and wait to hear back.
When Guinness receives the material, Shirazi has been told to expect four to six weeks for word from the organization. If his feat breaks the record, he will receive a certificate and bragging rights. The editors of the Guinness World Records will then determine if his record will be included in the print edition.
NO TRASH TALK
Shirazi is modest about his feat and is doing it more for fun than to upstage Dyrdek. He has not attempted to contact Dyrdek to gloat, nor does he plan to do so. Instead, Shirazi is simply hoping to take his place in the book that recognizes the unique and the unusual.
Guinness was started in the 1950s by Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery. Several disputes over birds gave him the idea to compile facts and record-breaking events in a bound volume. He also hoped to stoke up business for his Guinness beer. The first edition hit the shelves in 1955, and it quickly became a bestseller in Great Britain. The company reports it has sold more than 100 million copies of the book over the years.
Shirazi only has his eyes on one Guinness prize at this point. In May, he will graduate from Del City High School. Unless or until the world of professional skateboarding comes knocking on his door, he plans to attend Rose State College in the fall and begin his educational path toward a career in journalism.
Arguably, the gold standard of world records recognition is the Guinness World Records, which logs feats and accomplishments from the seemingly ordinary to the unusual and arcane. The records celebrate those with the world's longest fingernails, the oldest male stripper and the fastest time to pluck a turkey, just to name a few. Aaron Shirazi, 18, has no ambitions to unseat the stripper or begin adding inches to his fingernails, but he is seeking to break the world record for a skateboard maneuver that involves balancing on the back two wheels for more than a minute.
Some feats chronicled by Guinness involve dangerous stunts with the very real possibility of injury or death, like sword swallowing. Others place the record holder in great peril, such as the man who holds the record for dangling 10 live rattlesnakes from his mouth. Shirazi is not putting his life on the line, save the possibility of falling off the skateboard and suffering a bruise or a nasty bump on the head. Instead, he simply hopes to bring the record to Del City for a stationary manual wheelie.
But Shirazi is not the first to attempt a record time performing the stunt. To win, he must unseat Rob Dyrdek, an actor and professional skateboarder who boasts about a dozen skateboarding world records. His records include the stationary manual, with a time of 49 seconds set in 2007.
Shirazi has been skating since he was 13. Last year, he was performing the stunt when friends told him of Dyrdek's record.
"They told me the time, and I said, That's not that long,'" he said. "I tried it right there, and they timed me on their cell phones."
UNOFFICIALLY BROKEN
Based on the unofficial experiment, Shirazi broke the record. Then he did it again and again. Since then, he has been repeatedly breaking the record times. He decided to contact the folks at Guinness to see what it would take to be listed as the world record holder. Shirazi is already recognized as the world record holder for the stationary manual by the lesser-known World Records Academy.
With that accolade under his belt, Shirazi has his sights on shattering the Guinness record. He is submitting the paperwork, witness signatures, videos and documentation to Guinness in a lengthy process for certification as a new world record holder. With all of the required material in hand, Shirazi will submit the information, then sit tight and wait to hear back.
When Guinness receives the material, Shirazi has been told to expect four to six weeks for word from the organization. If his feat breaks the record, he will receive a certificate and bragging rights. The editors of the Guinness World Records will then determine if his record will be included in the print edition.
NO TRASH TALK
Shirazi is modest about his feat and is doing it more for fun than to upstage Dyrdek. He has not attempted to contact Dyrdek to gloat, nor does he plan to do so. Instead, Shirazi is simply hoping to take his place in the book that recognizes the unique and the unusual.
Guinness was started in the 1950s by Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery. Several disputes over birds gave him the idea to compile facts and record-breaking events in a bound volume. He also hoped to stoke up business for his Guinness beer. The first edition hit the shelves in 1955, and it quickly became a bestseller in Great Britain. The company reports it has sold more than 100 million copies of the book over the years.
Shirazi only has his eyes on one Guinness prize at this point. In May, he will graduate from Del City High School. Unless or until the world of professional skateboarding comes knocking on his door, he plans to attend Rose State College in the fall and begin his educational path toward a career in journalism.
For now, he will sit tight to see if he will join the ranks of sword swallowers, tattooed and pierced people, the extremely tall and the extremely tiny, elderly strippers and a bevy of regular folks and freaks from around the world who can each do at least one thing better than anyone else on the planet.
photo/Mark Hancock
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