Shark spoiler in record attempt
UNDERWATER juggling world record holder Ashrita Furman's dreams of breaking his own 2002 Guinness World Record of 48 minutes and 36 seconds were broken when a 12-year-old Tawney Nurse shark brushed by him and broke the momentum at the Aquatheatre, Aquaria KLCC on Thursday.
Furman, 51, set his record at the Kelly Tarlton aquarium in New Zealand and was attempting to break his record when the shark, nicknamed Guinness by Aquaria KLCC head curator Paul Hamilton, interfered.
Hamilton explained that Furman had been standing at the shark's sleeping spot.
Furman had juggled for 13 minutes before Guinness interrupted him but the health store manager from New York quickly picked up the balls and resumed juggling, only to stop three minutes later as his goggles were half filled with water.
In the end, Furman managed to juggle for 37 minutes and 45 seconds, to the dismay of the audience, including his friends Bipin Larkin, 50, Sanjaya Spetague, 67, and Utpal Marshall, 53, who had been hoping for a new record.
Although disappointed, Furman, who holds 32 world records, was pleased with the experience and said he had had fun.
“I am not sad, in fact, it goes to show that breaking a Guinness World Record is not an easy task,” he explained, adding that the bubbles from the scuba equipment had also made it difficult to concentrate on the balls.
“If Aquaria gives its okay, I would like to come back in three weeks to try and break another record, perhaps skipping underwater,” he said.
Furman holds the Guinness World Record for underwater skipping with 900 skips in an hour in Bali.
Aquaria executive director Simon Foong said Aquaria welcomed Furman to try and break his existing world records.
