Eton Lake, Dorney: ICBC have broken the world record for the fastest time for a waterskier towed by a rowing boat to travel 100 m. The record previously stood at 19.9 seconds held by a French club and was smashed by waterskier Stuart Marston (UK) and “Steve Trapmore’s team of eight professional rowers”. The new record now stands at 19.58 seconds. The event was recorded live by Sky TV and will be broadcast in the spring season as part of the “Guinness World Records – Smashed” series of shows which will have an estimated audience of 2 million viewers. Officer Duffy reports.
Professional water skier Stuart Marston, whose latest water-skiing achievements include gold in all disciplines of the British National Open Men (Slalom, Jump, Trick, Overall), was pulled along by a rope which had been fastened around all eight riggers. Tangling of the ropes became an issue early on and as suggestions for improvements flooded in Trapmore was repeatedly overheard asking “But will it make the water skier go faster?” Marston adapted impressively quick to the drive-recovery motion of the rowing boat which is very unlike the smooth dynamic of a motor boat, to which he is accustomed.
Coaches Steve Trapmore and Stuart Whitelaw accompanied the ICBC crew and were met at Dorney Lake by “Guinness World Records – Smashed” show presenters Konnie Huq and Steve Jones. Both presenters spent the morning learning to water-ski in an attempt to break the record themselves. The presenters had three attempts each starting with Huq, who already a world record holder for pinning the most Blue Peter Badges (17) onto her fellow presenter’s shirt in one minute, was unable to hang on to the rope because of the jerk. Channel 4's T4 presenter Steve Jones was more of a sea-anchor than a water-skier and could not manage to lift himself out of the water when the boat started moving. With failure on all attempts for the presenters it was time for the professional to take over and Marston was granted three attempts to break the record by the Guinness official who remained speechless throughout the day.
The ICBC crew were phased by the “On your marks. Get ready. Go!” start call but managed a smooth take-off nonetheless. Cox Henry Fieldman was given the challenge to include as many inspirational sound bytes in his twenty-odd seconds of coxing as possible. For once it was the rowers who had the vantage view and could watch Marston being dragged along behind while Fieldman urged the crew to look for those inches and don’t stop believing. On the first attempt IC coaches clocked a time of 19.3 seconds, but the Guinness adjudicator disagreed and had recorded the attempt 2 seconds slower. Trapmore took things into his own hands: “After pointing out that we were perhaps more experienced at timing crews on the course I invited the Adjudicator to time from the truck rather than from a boat following the skier. This did the trick, and although we timed the run faster the official verdict was 19.58s, breaking the previous World Record by almost 0.5s.”
Following the hysteria it was interview time: “I’m here with Sydney Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Trapmore, current head of Rowing at Imperial College. SO! STEVE! How fast would the pro’s move the boat WITHOUT a water skier?” Steve did his best celebrity impression to camera while behind him the boat was on trestles and the crew had to “act naturally” as the video panned along the boat. This involved fiddling with the slides and checking the gates were closed; both of which involved full bicep tension to camera. The interview was repeated over and over and by the time they had got what they wanted John Davey had tightened his foot plate beyond recoverability; in the wrong position. High fives were doled out after achieving these small tasks, of which at least one must have made the film. Although none of the students were interviewed Steve had the crew well warned beforehand; “Be prepared to be interviewed on camera. Please be sensible with your answers, promote the club and don't come across like a posh rowing twat.” Unfortunately the latter faux pas has never been a problem for the club. The Sky TV filming crew had to record footage of the post-record celebrations twice due to an unexpected outburst from Danny Bellion who shouted “F*ck My Life!” to camera after the initial attempt.
Following the event there was real excitement among crew members and the trademark Trapmore celebration was employed numerous times. Dedicated PhD student Richard Winchester was quick to contact the press officer via text-message: “We broke the world record! If you do an article do you think you could not mention that we skived off work on a random Tuesday for it?! My supervisor gets all the Felix papers!” No problem Winny, Mum’s the word.
The record-breaking crew are only too aware of the doors of opportunity that will now open for them. Even at this early stage sponsorship deals are underway, fixtures for public speaking at local water-skiing clubs have been organised and autobiographies are being drafted. Steve has offered counseling to the crew for coping skills and techniques for dealing with press releases while trying to maintain a normal student and training lifestyle. It has been leaked from internal sources that Leo Carrington has already been offered a position as Head of Towing and World Record Ambassador to Imperial; new roles announced by Sport Imperial this term. His defining motto; “I believe in IC.”
The record breaking success attempt will be broadcast during a live interview with the crew in late April on “Guinness World Records – Smashed”. The details will be posted on the website as soon as they are available. Please contact Press Officer Duffy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for interview/autograph requests of the record-breaking crew. All emails will be responded to.