Rhys McClenaghan to take on a Guinness World Record to raise funds for Action Mental Health
On Friday, he's back on the pommel horse but this time it's for charity
Last updated 7th Apr 2022
Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan will attempt to beat a Guinness world record to raise awareness of mental health.
The Newtownards native, a Commonwealth gold medallist and European champion, is making a staggering attempt at 40 Russian circles in one minute on the pommel horse on Friday - the record is 35.
His effort is being staged to raise funds for Action Mental Health’s activities which support the mental health of people of all ages across Northern Ireland.
Rhys, 22, an ambassador for Action Mental Health, has spoken out about the challenges he has faced in his own mental health, particularly after his gold medal bid for gold on the pommel horse at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics was thwarted.
From the Olympic village in Tokyo, in the delayed Games which took place in 2021, Rhys had said in a Tweet: “Mental blocks ain’t no joke. I’ve experienced this first hand throughout my career and they are still the most challenging times I’ve faced. Only people who have experienced this can fully understand the stress that comes with it.”
Rhys became a Action Mental Health ambassador in 2019 as part of Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon. He has continued his support of AMH ever since, supporting our 2020 campaign to mark Children’s Mental Health Week and other similar events.
Rhys also explained why he has chosen Action Mental Health to benefit from the money raised through his globally recognised record attempt.
'I'm going to make use of the platform I have and do something special to raise awareness for Action Mental Health, and mental health in general. Achieving a Guiness World Record has been a dream of mine since I got my first World record book in 2006. I'm very proud that I can not only achieve this dream for myself but hopefully bring some positivity to others’ lives by doing so, too,” he said.
“Action Mental Health has demonstrated to me their amazing efforts time and time again to help others, and it's still one of the most inspiring things I've seen to date. I'm honoured to be supporting such an incredible charity."
Head of Communications & Fundraising at Action Mental Health, Jonathan Smyth commented: “We are so delighted that our loyal ambassador Rhys is continuing to support Action Mental Health through this amazing Guinness World Book of Records attempt.
“With physical activity being a scientifically-proven benefit to people’s mental health, we are always really pleased to see fundraising activity that embraces this ethos. We are confident that Rhys will achieve his global record attempt on his apparatus of choice that has won him such international acclaim, the pommel horse, whilst also raising vital funds to support our services, which are seeing such demand.”