A 25-year-old student from Groningen has broken the world record for 24-hour ice skating that was originally set in 1994. He covered 680,2 kilometres in a whole day of non-stop skating.
The 1994 world record of 655,6 kilometres of ice skating in 24 hours was held by another Dutchman Jan Roelof Kruithof, reports NOS. He covered the equivalent of the distance from Groningen to Paris, or around three times the Elfstedentocht - the biggest ice skating marathon in the world - at the age of 57.
Jochem Kerssies, a Groningen student, set a new record this month at an indoor ice rink at Kardinge, covering nearly 25 kilometres more than the old record. "The idea had been in my head for two years," Kerssies told RTV Noord before his attempt. "I focused on this record all winter and really trained for it."
There were some challenges for Kerssies as he attempted a new record on the warmest March 21 ever measured. This meant the ice was softer, making it slightly harder to skate, but the good weather also energised the student.
Kerssies had approached Kruithof for tips before his attempt, but the former marathon skater did not want to give him more of an advantage. "I shouldn't give him too much advice because that would be to my disadvantage,” Kruithof told RTV Drenthe. “And he's also 30 years younger, rides on clap skates and he gets help from so-called lead skaters."
Kerssies had the help of lead skaters to skate ahead of him and shield him from the wind. They also helped by providing mental support. Kruithof admitted that you have to be a good skater to complete this challenge, “But you also have to be mentally very good to be able to do this.”
"I skated there for 24 hours without leaving the ice: I peed and ate while skating, because otherwise it would have made a difference of a few metres. The food was just pushed over and that applied to the pee bottle as well," Kruithof recalls from when he completed his own attempt in 1994.