When B Sakthi, a civil engineering student of SNS College of Technology skipped backwards with his arms clasped at a popular mall in the city in October 2015, little did the audience expect that he would surpass two world records on that day. Sakthi made Coimbatore proud by entering the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the maximum number of backward skips- 46 skips in a minute. (a record hitherto held by Brittany Boffo, an Australian (40 skips in one minute). The result came in last December.

And now, the 20-year-old has managed to achieve yet another feat. This time around, he has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the maximum backward skips- 25 skips in 30 seconds. This record was also held by Brittany Boffo (20 skips in 30 seconds).

“I was pretty confident about this feat as I had already achieved the more challenging record for 1 minute. One needs immense amount of stamina to continuously, skip backwards that too with your hands clasped. Moreover, I didn’t make a single mistake when I attempted both feats last year,” he says.

Right from his childhood, Sakthi had always wanted to do something different. “I used to watch record-making and breaking videos right from my school days and was quite inspired by them. I decided to do backward skips and soon started practising for it after I joined college. I started with endurance exercises including running in the morning for three hours and skipping for three hours in the evening. This apart, I underwent a strict flexibility exercise regimen and a strict diet.”

Now that he has set two records, Sakthi hopes to complete his studies and provide employment to many others. “My dream of achieving both feats has come true and my parents are elated. I now plan to concentrate on my studies and reach a position where I can dole out jobs to many other youngsters.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by P. Sangeetha / TNN / January 17th, 2016