See Can Kung Fu Make You a World Record Holder? by Anthony Kelly in our SEP+OCT 2010 issue.

Aussie Anthony Kelly breaks Guinness World Record for catching spears shot from speargun
Date November 14, 2014
Scott Parker


Anthony Kelly breaks the world record for catching spears. Photo: Supplied

Anthony Kelly is a martial arts expert with lightning fast reflexes and, for Guinness World Records Day 2014, he broke the record for catching spears from a speargun.

Record holders and potential record breakers worldwide came together on Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of the day in 2004 when Guinness World Records became the world's best-selling copyright book, according to its website,

Mr Kelly, who assists at Armidale High School, organised the Australian leg of GWR 2014. Students and teachers from the school took part.


The world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, meets the world's shortest man, Chandra Bahadur Dangi. Photo: AFP

"We attempted two records at Armidale High School; the first was for the most people head-banging and we succeeded in that," Mr Kelly said.

"[We had] 320 people [headbanging] to AC/DC's It's a Long Way to the Top."

The second attempt was for the most thongs thrown, which the students unfortunately missed by just 19, because half the students forgot to bring their thongs to school and some students were away on excursions.

"Any multiple record like that, you must have a minimum of 250 people participating," Mr Kelly said.

But the best effort was Mr Kelly's own record, which he set in the swimming pool at Sport UNE at the University of New England: not once, but twice.

The event involves catching the most spears shot from a speargun, from a distance of two metres, underwater in one minute.

The record stood at seven, but Mr Kelly caught first eight, then 10, spears.

Mr Kelly is a learning support officer at Armidale High, where he handles a group of children with special needs and engages them in extra-curricular physical activities..

He also teaches reaction training and kung fu classes at Duval High School.

He is not a spearfisherman himself, but his interest in the record comes from his incredible reaction ability and the difficulty of the event.

Around the world, various events took place to mark GWR 2014.

In London, the world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, met the world's shortest man, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, for the first time, at St Thomas's Hospital.

The pair also posed for photos outside the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Kosen, 31, from Turkey, measures a staggering two metres, 51 centimetres, while Mr Bahadur Dangi , 75, from Nepal, measures just 54.6 centimetres.

In Tokyo, the record for the fastest 100 metres on all fours was set at 15.86 seconds by Katsumi Tamakoshi at Komazawa Olympic Park Athletic Field in Setagaya.

In China, a record was set for the most people eating breakfast in bed. Three hundred and eight-eight people congregated in Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai, to eat their morning meal, breaking the record by 99.

The world famous Moulin Rouge in Paris also participated in GWR 2014 with three successful attempts.

They were the most simultaneous demi-grand rond de jambe cancan kicks by a single chorus line in 30 seconds (29), the most spinning splits in 30 seconds (36) and the most times to position one leg behind the head in 30 seconds by an individual (30).

In New York, home to some of the world's biggest and best fashion labels, the largest high-heeled shoe was created by Jill Martin and fashion brand Kenneth Cole. The shoe is 1.95 metres long and 1.85 metres high.

In an astonishing attempt at the world's longest basketball shot made backwards, Thunder Law of the Harlem Globetrotters landed a shot from 25 metres. An American NBA basketball court is 28.65 metres long.