Guinness World Record: Pretoria man plans to break rope skipping record

SD Heijns, a man from Pretoria who started skipping as part of his kickboxing training when he was twelve, will attempt to break the current Guinness World Record for rope skipping over 8 hours on Friday, 6 May.

To break this record, he will need to successfully complete 70,031 skips.

The Guinness World Record attempt will take place at Sun International’s Maslow Time Square Hotel in Pretoria and will be closely monitored and recorded.

Such a world record attempt has to be registered with the Guinness World record body and proper verification processes need to be in place in order for the attempt to be validated.

The Sports Science Lab (SSL) will therefore monitor and verify the number of skips while a support team will be on hand with spare skipping ropes as Heijns hopefully skips his way into a brand-new world record in rope skipping.

The attempt will also be broadcast and livestreamed via the local radio station, GrootFM.

The current Guinness World Record in rope skipping is held by the United States’ Sella Rosa Rega from Bioceville, New York, who set the mark on 30 March 2019.

The 8-hour record was set on 70,030 skips, while the 12-hour record was 100,464 and the 24-hour record on 168,394.

Heijns, who wants to bring the record to South Africa and test the limits of the human body, will attempt to also break the 12 and 24-hour records at another time.

Through this Guinness World Record attempt, he wants to demonstrate the fitness potential of training with minimal equipment.

He says he believes that Rega’s records are within his reach and that skipping has formed an integral part of his personal training regime to stay fit during South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown.

READ: Bushy McKelvey is still chasing world records

Time Square General Manager, Ruben Gooranah says the hotel is thrilled to play host to the Guinness World Record attempt and wishes Heijns all the best in his effort to put South Africa’s name up in lights.

“The live broadcast adds an exciting element to the event and Time Square will also have the big screen at Time Square showing the proceedings, so we welcome members of the public to come and watch and to show their support,” Gooranah says.