FROME’S bid to hold the Guinness World Record for the most people to row 500m each, in a 24-hour relay on one indoor rowing machine, has been made official this month by Guinness.
678 people took part in the event, organised by Rachel Clark and her brothers, Matthew and Daniel, raising money for We Hear You, the local cancer counselling charity. The previous record stood at 600 people and was held in America.
Rachel Clark said, “It’s a huge relief to have it finally made official. I had the weight of 677 people on my shoulders waiting to hear back from Guinness!
“They were still emailing me over the Christmas period, so I was hopeful it would get approved before the end of the year, but we were patient and it has made a great New Year’s present.
“I knew in my heart that we had done it. But Guinness were being very particular and asking a lot of questions – it was a long, long process. It took just over a year from application to being made official, but it was totally worth it. It has put both Frome and We Hear You on the map.
“Everyone is keen to latch on to our Guinness bandwagon with people always telling me that when I announced the next attempt, they want to be involved.
“It’s great that it has generated so much interest. People have come up to me and thanked me for being their inspiration. One lady joined in the world record rowathon having never rowed before and now, six months later, she is still rowing!
“I have applied to try and break another world record this summer – the most amount of people to play a game of skittles continuously in an eight hour period! The current record is 468 I believe. We are hoping to make the event outdoors, more inclusive, and have lots activities on as well, to make a real day of it.”
Above: Rachel (centre left) with her brothers Daniel and Matthew and Gemma Wilkes from We Hear You.
Below: A participant in the rowathon – now a Frome World Record holder.
