Did you hear about the guy who just broke Guinness World Record for swuggling?

Yep, that’s swuggling…as in a cross between swimming and juggling. You may wonder why anybody would want to try such a thing, let alone try to break a World record for it, but you have to remember…people are crazy. They will try pretty much anything they can think of, especially if it means they get in the Guinness Book of World Records.

For instance, about 30,000 people got together and grilled more than 30,000-pounds of beef to break the record for the “Biggest Barbecue in the World”. No matter how you slice it, that’s a lot of beef. And a lot of people. And since grilling beef is such a happy sport, I’ll bet that was one fun party!

Another time, a guy put a toothbrush in his mouth and spun a basketball on it for 22.41 seconds. You might laugh at this, but just try it. You will probably keep laughing, but you’ll have more respect for the poor guy.

And the record for the most people disguised to look like Albert Einstein was 300. Yep, 300 crazy people, all looking like Einstein, from (where else?) California.

So really, compared to all the other strange things in the Guinness Book, this swuggling thing is not that weird. Actually, it’s pretty impressive, because there were very strict rules to follow. The guy had to juggle five balls, not letting any touch the water, and his feet could never touch the ground while swimming. Each time he caught a ball counted as a catch.

The guy completed 101 catches, blowing the previous record out of the water, which was a mere 25. Impressive, especially since most people can’t juggle, even on land, and lots of other people can’t swim. 

But when I read the story further, I realized why the guy was so good at doing two difficult things at once. He is a teacher. He teaches fifth grade. Juggling and swimming at the same time are a piece of cake compared to keeping a room full of fifth-graders interested and engaged.

With this Covid shut down, the poor guy probably had energy to spare. He was used to herding cats, so he had to channel that energy somewhere. 

So next time you see someone trying to break a World Record, and it takes energy and concentration, ask what they do in their regular life. It’s a good bet they are one heck of a teacher.