Rhys McClenaghan smashes Guinness World Record raising funds for Action Mental Health
42 Russian circles in 60 seconds
Last updated 8th Apr 2022
Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan has set a new world record for the number of Russian circles completed on the pommel horse in one minute.
His goal was to beat the Guinness world record set at 35 while also raising awareness of mental health.
Earlier today (Friday) the Commonwealth gold medallist and European champion successfully completed 42 turns at Newtownards Leisure Centre.
The gymnast spoke to Cool FM and Downtown Radio after completing his one minute of spins on the pommel horse.
He said: “I mean, there's always a little bit of doubt in your mind. Of course, it's gymnastics, anything can happen.
“But it was more difficult than I thought it would be, and I liked the challenge of I liked the fact that I just beat the record.
“You know, maybe I can beat it once again, later.”
“Once I hit the 20, Mark, I started to get crazy dizzy, you know, it's hard to stay on this narrow pommel horse when you're that busy spending rundown of my times.
“And then once I got towards the end of it, the harm started to feel the fatigue. So, it was definitely a challenge, actually, but I like challenges.”
Rhys also used today’s (Friday) world record attempt not only to fulfil a life-long dream but to fundraise for Action Mental Health.
He is an ambassador for the charity and has spoken out about the challenges he has faced in his own mental health, particularly after his gold medal bid on the pommel horse at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics was thwarted.
He added: “Over the past couple of years has just highlighted in my life and many other people's lives, the importance of mental health.
“That's why I kind of teamed up with Action Mental Health. It is a charity that I trust and see is doing very good things within the community here in Ards and in County Down in total.
“It's an incredible charity, and I wanted to help in any way I could.
“So, I have a coupled my ambitions of becoming a world record holder with the ambition of helping the charity Action mental health. “
Congratulations Rhys!
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