A focussed bunch of nine young students from Youth Skating Academy here are attempting to break a record by skating non-stop for 48 hours in a relay format, and they have not erred since they began on January 26.
On the second day of the attempt, the students, aged between 7 and 13, whizzed past cheering spectators in a 50-metre indoor rink. The skaters entered the arena in twos every hour and maintained a consistent speed.
Their instructor and coach T. Rathinakumar said that each student got two hours of complete rest before entering the rink again for his or her turn. They have been given special training in increasing the speed, he said. “The nine students attend State championships and train for two hours each day. We held a practise session for 48 hours during Pongal and they did it with ease. We are actually attempting to do 54 hours,” he said.
The officiators will gauge the performance of the nine participants and rank them on their fitness and consistency on the track.
With one more day to go, the participants are enthusiastic. Eleven year-old S. Sujaana Fathima is excited about a record against her name. She never misses her practise sessions, saying “skating classes are a great way of making friends.”
C. Rahul Kannan, a 13-year-old hearing impaired student, who is part of the nine-member squad, says he skates from Pandikoil to Melur every morning and later practises for two hours in the evening. He had earlier set the record for jumping 35 hurdles that are two-feet-high in a minute’s time with skates on January 26.
Mr. Rathinakumar says he is confident of breaking the record. “I have full faith in my students,”he says.
