Exhausted but over the moon, Katikati brothers Chris, Hayden Revell, Logan and Braden Brewer after unofficially breaking the world record for the longest doubles squash marathon.
Exhausted but over the moon, Katikati brothers Chris, Hayden Revell, Logan and Braden Brewer after unofficially breaking the world record for the longest doubles squash marathon.
The Katikati boys have done it.
Brothers Logan, Chris and Braden Brewer and mate Hayden Revell are "unofficial" world record holders of the longest doubles squash marathon - 40 hours 1 minute - and longest squash rally (doubles) with 4348 strikes in 1 hour and 40 seconds.
In the final minutes family, friends, and supporters on the viewing deck at Katikati Squash Club cheered them on singing We are the Champions, then counted down the seconds.
The lads, aged from 24 to 30, kicked off the attempt at 3.16am on Friday and played squash continually for more than 40 hours finishing Saturday at 7.17pm.
Logan Brewer about to take a swing at the ball in the earlier stages of the world record attempt event.
After the attempts, there were mixed feelings, physical and emotional.
"We realised at the halfway mark that this was a truly difficult challenge and we would have to go to some dark places to last the full 40 hours.
"The mental and physical effects of sleep deprivation started kicking in at about the 36-hour mark; forgetting how to navigate the clubrooms during the short breaks, the squash ball grew in size and changed shape and colour, and forgetting who was on each other's teams and the order of serving."
During the attempt, the players could rest five minutes every hour or accumulate them.
Unplanned and unforeseen niggles and mishaps throughout the record attempt included balls being hit out of bounds, a racket ending up off the court, the lights switching off because of a faulty timer, and the main video recording device turning itself off for several minutes.
The Brewer brothers Waiting for the next rally.
All four ended up with blisters between their toes, swollen feet and hands, severe muscle cramps and sharp, shooting pains through their feet.
"We each lost between 3-7kg, burned over 20,000 calories, maintained an average heart rate of 140bpm and clocked up over 50,000 steps over the 40 hours."
They were still exhausted 48 hours afterward and immensely proud of each other's grit and determination.
"We're elated that we're unofficial world record holders."
The Brewer boys' proud mum Delwyn Seath says "it's still sinking in".
"I am so very proud of them, I always believed they could do it mentally and physically, but worried about injury forcing them to stop. I know that would have devastated them."
They had to dig deep on occasions, the encouragement of all the supporters certainly motivated them to carry on, she says.
"Watching the video of the final moments of the 40.01-hour marathon brings tears to my eyes."
Supporters on the viewing deck waiting anxiously for the final countdown.
Logan, who is president of the Katikati Squash Club says they were humbled by the support given by the club, community members and businesses.
"We've raised $13,000 from the event, which is a great start to our $60,000 club upgrade project, and are forever grateful for all the generous contributions from the community.
PSA ranked player and club member Glenn Templeton led the world record attempt for most players (63) in a singles rally, hitting every second shot and unofficially broke the world record for longest squash rally (singles) with Winona-Jo Joyce - 3563 strikes in 1h 10m (current world record is 3408 shots).
Glenn Templeton feeling the heat at the Katikati Squash Club world record attempt.
Would the boys do it again?
"This was the single-most difficult physical challenge we've ever achieved in our lives and definitely a once in a lifetime event. However, being the competitive bunch we are, if someone were to break our record, we might have to consider lacing up the shoes again."
The club hopes to find out within 16 weeks if they are officially new world record holders.
