Page 8 - IAV Digital Magazine #611

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Minnesota Ice Festival Boasts World's Largest Ice Maze
Diver Walks 370 Feet Underwater On A Single Breath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rn0yY1FiRc
By Ben Hooper
Jan. 10 (UPI) -- An Australian freediver went for a 370-foot, 2-inch stroll at the bottom of a pool to break the Guinness World Record for the longest underwater walk with one breath (female).
Amber Bourke, 35, who has been freediving for over 10 years, spent weeks training in and out of the pool to break her own personal record of 334 feet, 7 inches, as well as the Guinness World Record of 357 feet, 7 inches.
"I wanted to do this both for my own sense of achieve- ment -- it has always been a dream of mine to hold a
Guinness World Records title -- and also to raise money for the Australian Marine Conservation Society in the process," Bourke told Guinness World Records.
Bourke's underwater walk- ing technique involved bending at her hips so her torso was at a 90-degree angle, in a swimming-like position, while her feet were planted on the floor of the pool.
Bourke already holds 17 Australian freediving records and one International Association for the Development of Apnea world record for swimming underwater.
By Ben Hooper
Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The Minnesota Ice Festival's 18,148.88-square-foot ice maze has been officially certified as the largest in the world by Guinness World Records.
The festival's maze, which features 8-foot-high walls and multiple twists and turns, took the record from a Buffalo, N.Y., ice maze that covered an area of 13,000 square feet in 2010.
Robbie Harrell, founder and CEO of festival organizer Minnesota Ice, said con- struction on the maze at Tco Stadium in Eagan
began Dec. 1, and gravel and plywood were spread out across the field to pro- tect the turf.
The maze was then con- structed from 3,452 blocks of ice, each weighing about 425 pounds.
The maze was completed Jan. 4, and ice sculptures and lights were then installed prior to a visit by a Guinness World Records adjudicator.
Harrell said the festival will hopefully run through Feb. 16, depending on weather conditions.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine