Discussion: New world record?

In the culvert crawl -- 130 feet in 15 seconds, though it may not be ratified due to insufficiently precise timing, and also because attempts were made in only one direction, thus deviating from the Laramie standard.

Does the Laramie standard allow the use of hydraulic aids? I suspect they do not.

That is one seriously lucky guy though...

Sounds like he's a larger fellow than any of the crew from Laramie, too. I guess he managed to get the thing cleared, though, which was his original objective. The human roto-rooter!

This kind of brazen cheating shows exactly why you can't just look away from western Mass and hope somehow that things will work out for the best. Constant vigilance of that part of the country is eeeeee-ssential!

I have to be a big dork here and comment on the "even though he could benchpress 300lbs at one point comment he couldn't pull himself back". Being a whitewater guy and an engineer, even Hercules himself couldn't pull himself back up. The moving water acts on the full submerged surface area of the body - and adds up to huge forces. Even slow water above the knees is going to cause problems.

Lots of similar stories from swiftwater rescue - this guy got lucky. Imagine if there was a screen anywhere along the culvert.

Not to mention the wader-parachutes he was wearing....as a speed aid of course.

I should point out that this was judged to be such a significant athletic accomplishment that the newspaper put the story on the front page, above the fold, rather than the sports pages where you normally find coverage of culvert crawling.

If you're want the complete history of culvert crawling.

I'm confident nobody would want the complete history of culvert crawling. Presidential wannabes are not going to cite their youthful crawling triumphs as a reason for the electorate's confidence and vote. Parents are not going to rush to sign up their kids for Little Culvert Crawling Leagues. No hands of fair maidens are going to be won over with the proclamation, on bended knee, that, "For thee, I would crawl a culvert full of africanized bee!" Frankly, it's a non-starter.

crawled once in college, but didn't inhale