My Underwater Running World Record attempt took a hit today, being rejected by the people at Guinness World Records. They were very polite:

Dear Mr Pratten,

Thank you for sending us the details of your recent record proposal for ‘Underwater Running’. We are afraid to say that we are unable to accept this as a Guinness World Record.

We receive over 60,000 enquiries a year from which only a small proportion are approved by our experienced researchers to establish new categories. These are not ‘made up’ to suit an individual proposal, but rather ‘evolve’ as a result of international competition in a field, which naturally accommodates superlatives of the sort that we are interested in. We think you will appreciate that we are bound to favour those that reflect the greatest interest.

We realize that this will be disappointing to you. However, we have considered your proposal fully; in the context of the specific subject area and that of records as a whole, and our decision is final in this matter.

Once again thank you for your interest in Guinness World Records.

Yours sincerely,

(signed)
Records Management Team

There definitely is a lack of “international competition” in the Underwater Running “field” – perhaps that accounts for their lack of interest.

As a young man, I invented the Australian style of underwater running while swimming in the Brunswick River, in Northern NSW.

I feel that this new discipline is under appreciated in the world of water sports!

Today I submitted the papers to Guinness World Records (GWR) for an attempt to set a world record for running 20metres underwater.

Yes – it is possible to run underwater. Although, as far as I know there is no current world record for this discipline!

Hopefully GWR will approve my attempt before the water in Sydney gets too cold! Time to get into shape!