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World stone-skimming record smashed
A US man has been named the world's top stone skimmer after throwing a stone that skipped on water 51 times.
Russell Byars, 43, from Pennsylvania, shattered the previous world record of 40 skims on July 19 - but it took the Guinness Book of Records until now to declare him the new record holder.
Mr Byars, known as Rock Bottom in the stone skimming world, smashed the record at French Creek on the Allegheny River, near Pittsburgh.
Before his new record of 51 skims could be made official, experts from the Guinness Book of Records had to analyse film replays of Byars' toss, painstakingly checking the concentric circles in the water made by each skip.
"I actually threw 40 stones that day, but that was the first skip that I threw," a delighted Mr Byars told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The comparatively tame old record of 40 skims, set in 2002 at the Pennsylvannia Qualifying Stone Skipping Tournament, was held by Kurt "Mountain Man" Steiner, 42, of Emporium.
Asked to reflect on the new record, Mr Steiner likened his rival's feat to breaking the four-minute mile, praising him with the words: "It was only a matter of time."
Prior to Mr Steiner's effort, the long-standing record of 38 rebounds - previously deemed untouchable - was held by Irish stone-skipping stalwart Jerdone Coleman-McGhee, author of the weighty tome 'The Secrets of Stone Skipping'.
But Mr Byars - who is 6ft 2in tall and weighs 18 stone - can now boast to be the undisputed greatest skipper of stones on water to ever grace the planet.
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