Victorian scuba divers to link arms for Guinness World Record attempt

Hundreds of scuba divers will form a massive human chain in an attempt to claim a Guinness World Record this weekend.

At least 400 divers will gather in Rye, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, to form the world’s longest ever underwater chain of scuba divers on Saturday.

The Australian group hopes to topple* an Italian group which holds the current world record.

That record was set in May when 308 divers formed a 270m human chain in the port town of Cesenatico, Italy.

Dive Industry of Victoria spokesman Luke English said he hoped the attempt would highlight* the natural beauty of Port Phillip Bay, where the attempt is being held.

“You don’t need expensive trips to tropical reefs when all the colour and diversity exists here,” he said.

“We have some of the best diving in the world, which we want to share with the world.”

Registrations for this Saturday’s dive have closed but the public is invited to watch the attempt.

The attempt will be held at 10am on Saturday, December 2 at Rye Pier.

WHAT ARE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS?

The Guinness Book of World Records team has been scouring the globe for the most amazing human and natural feats since 1955, putting out a book each year of impressive records.

Officials are employed around the world to work as record adjudicators* to verify the authenticity* of records.

The reference book of mind-bending efforts has become so popular people now use it in every day language as a way to say how impressive something is.
The book holds its own record too, as the best-selling copyrighted* book ever.

And there are a lot of other scuba diving associated world records.

Egyptian diver Ahmed Gabr claimed the record for deepest scuba dive when he descended 332m in 2014.

Polish couple Ewa Staronska and Pawel Burkowski tied the knot* at sea in the largest underwater wedding in 2011.

GLOSSARY

topple: beat

highlight: display

adjudicators: judges

authenticity: real

copyrighted: owned

tied the knot: got married

LISTEN TO TODAY’S STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Activity 1.
What is the Guinness Book of World Records?

Why do you think it has sold so well? Give three reasons for your answer.

Why do you think people want to break world records? Give three different reasons for your answer.

Extension:

Find out more about the amazing variety of plant and marine life that you can find in Port Phillip Bay, or somewhere close to where you live.
Use the information that you have found to create a storyboard for a TV advertisement.
The purpose of your advertisement is to encourage people who are interested in nature tourism to visit Port Phillip Bay or wherever you choose.

Time: allow 75 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: Critical and Creative Thinking, Science, Media Arts

Activity 2.
If 308 divers in Italy formed a chain that was 270m long, how much space did each diver have in the chain?

Write the number sentence that gives you the answer.

How long will the chain probably be if 400 divers form a chain at Rye?

Extension:

Think about where you live.
If you could choose any world record attempt to highlight what is special about where you live, what would it be?
Imagine that you have organised this.
Write a newspaper article about the attempt.

Time: allow 55 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: Mathematics, English

VCOP ACTIVITY

(Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation)

Verb adventures

With a partner, see if you can you identify all the doing verbs in this text.
Highlight them in yellow and then make a list of them all down your page.

Now see if you and your partner can come up with a synonym for the chosen verb and make sure it still makes the context it was taken from.

See if you can replace some of the original verbs with your synonyms and discuss if any are better and why.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Big Write, VCOP

EXTRA RESOURCES

WHY SWIM BETWEEN THE FLAGS?

BACKYARD POOL SLIDES INTO HOT WATER

SOGGY MOGGY A SEASIDE SENSATION

SEAL PUP’S EPIC SWIM FROM THE ANTARCTIC

WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE, KIDS?

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