Swinging superstar takes aim at world record

Patrick Cooper may be on a playground, but he is not fooling around with his goal to break the record for the longest time swinging on a swing.

Cooper kicked off the ground at 1.30pm on Friday afternoon at Waitangi Park in Wellington with a goal to swing non-stop for 48 hours.

The current Guinness World Record for the challenge is 36 hours, 32 minutes clocked by a British man.

It is not just the world record that Cooper is after, as he has taken his record breaking opportunity to raise funds for mental health charity I Am Hope.

But Guinness World Record requirements are tight. Cooper must have at least two new witnesses every four hours.

While some may want to help him out, words of encouragement will be the only way people are able to give Cooper a push, who must complete the challenge without physical assistance.

“I’m excited for people to come down,” said Cooper.

“I’ve had quite a few people say they’re down for the cause and want to come support me”.

In 2021, Cooper swung for a then-record 36 hours, according to news reports of the time.

Cooper said it was “childhood wonder” that sparked an interest in a world record.

“Growing up in primary school we had Guinness World Record books,” he said.

“The swing record is a lot easier for me to set up. It’s one of those simple tasks where you can really see how far you can go for it. I don’t think I could quite crack it at running or walking.”

While Guinness World Records kept record attempts strict, there would be some allowances.

“A lot of people do ask the toilet question, Guinness do give me five minutes for every hour of swinging.”

Cooper was set to finish this Sunday.

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