Idaho man completed his goal of breaking 52 world records in a single year

David Rush of Idaho set out to break one Guinness World Record every week of 2021, according to NPR.  

The challenge was simultaneously no small feat and nothing out of the ordinary for Rush, an author, speaker and entertainer who describes himself on his website as “one of the most prolific Guinness World Records title holders on the planet.” He says he’s broken more than 150 records promoting STEM since late 2015. 

“He is the world’s fastest juggler, the world’s slowest juggler, and has the record for most bowling balls juggled, most consecutive ax juggling catches, and longest duration balancing a bicycle on the chin,” according to his bio.

Rush started the year off on Jan. 4 by stacking wet bars of soap with his neighbor, he explained in a blog post last week. From there, his missions included bouncing ping pong balls, catching fruit and marshmallows in his mouth, juggling and doing various tasks very quickly.

“I crossed the 200 Guinness World Records broken milestone with one of the 5 hardest for the most kiwis sliced in one minute using a samurai sword while standing on a swiss ball,” he wrote. “I revisited my very first record – longest duration blindfolded juggling, this time extended the record from 22 minutes 7 seconds to 32 minutes 7 seconds.”

Some of his tasks involved partners. Rush said he broke a couple of records with his wife, and put a bow on the year by wrapping his neighbor in wrapping paper with the help of an accomplice, becoming the fastest pair to do so.

A spokesperson for Guinness World Records told NPR over email that Rush achieved a total of 43 Guinness World Records titles over the 52 weeks of 2021. 

While it’s not clear which ones fell short, here are the titles Guinness confirms Rush can officially add to his resume: 

1. Fastest time to wrap a person with wrapping paper (team of two)
2. Fastest 100 m joggling with three objects whilst blindfolded (male)
3. Fastest 100 m blindfolded
4. Most consecutive axe juggling catches
5. Most passes of a beach ball in one minute (team of two)
6. Most marshmallows caught by mouth in one minute
7. Most apples thrown and caught in mouth in one minute
8. Fastest 10 m balancing a balloon on the face
9. Farthest distance travelled on an electric unicycle while juggling three objects
10. Most juggling catches while on a balance board (blindfolded)
11. Most passes of a giant inflatable ball in three minutes (team)
12. Fastest time to wrap a person in cling film/plastic wrap
13. Most thumbtacks inserted into a cork board in one minute
14. Fastest time to complete a 10 m shuttle run pushing a pram
15. Most toilet paper rolls balanced on the head
16. Fastest time to burst ten balloons (team of six)
17. Most table tennis balls caught in shaving foam on the head in 30 seconds (team of two)
18. Farthest distance walked balancing a baseball bat on the chin
19. Most behind-the-back flying disc (frisbee) catches in one minute
20. Fastest flying disc relay (20 m course)
21. Most passes of a giant inflatable ball in three minutes
22. Longest duration balancing a chair on the chin
23. Most consecutive passes of a giant inflatable ball
24. Most kiwis sliced on a balance board in one minute
25. Most grapes thrown and caught in the mouth while juggling in one minute (team of two)
26. Most consecutive catches of a spinning basketball
27. Fastest time to flip three water bottles
28. Most kiwifruits sliced in the air with a sword whilst standing on a Swiss ball in one minute
29. Longest duration balancing an object on the head
30. Most juggling catches while on a balance board (blindfolded)
31. Fastest time to arrange a chess set
32. Fastest time to arrange a chess set (team of two)
33. Longest duration juggling three objects whilst on a balance board
34. Most glasses balanced on a stick held in the mouth
35. Most T-shirts put on in 30 seconds (team of two)
36. Most T-shirts put on in one minute (team of two)
37. Longest duration juggling three objects whilst on a Swiss ball
38. Most grapes sliced in the air with a sword whilst standing on a Swiss ball in one minute
39. Most juggling catches on a Swiss ball in one minute (three balls)
40. Fastest time to bounce a ping pong ball into five cups (team of two)
41. Most football (soccer) arm rolls in 30 seconds
42. Most bars of soap stacked in one minute (team of two)
43. Most drum stick flips in 30 seconds