Fastest man on land claims water too
No person in history has traveled farther on flat water under his own power in one day than Greg Kolodziejzyk [ko LA jezik]. On September 9th, 2008 Greg pedaled his human powered boat, the Critical Power 2, 245.16 km (151.3 miles) around a circular lake course on Whitefish Lake in Montana, beating kayaker Carter Johnson’s previous 24 hour distance record of 241.8 km (150.2 miles). The record is unofficial pending IHPVA and Guinness World Records ratification.
Greg is already the fastest man on earth, with a 2006 world recordfor the most distance covered by human power in 24 hours on land. Greg powered his custom-made carbon fiber bullet bike “Critical Power” 1046 km in just one day on a race track in Eureka, California, breaking the existing world record by 26 km. Greg is an endurance athlete who has finished dozens of marathons, 12 Ironman triathlons and qualified for Ironman World Championships in Kuna, Hawaii.
For his latest record attempt, A 5.79 km circular course was marked with buoys and surveyed on Whitefish Lake in Montana. Greg started pedaling his pedal and propeller-powered boat Critical Power 2 at 9:30 AM on Monday, September 8th, and made continual loops around the course stopping only once for two minutes to put on some warm clothes for the night.
Greg received food and water from his support crew by a special telescopic rod so that he would not have to stop pedaling. At exactly 9:30 am on Tuesday morning as per the atomic clock that was used
to time the event, Greg had finished 42 complete laps plus a partial lap equalling a total distance traveled of 245.16 km (151.3 miles) beating the old record of 241.8 km set by kayaker Carter Johnson in 2006 on a lake in California.
Official observers from the international human powered vehicle association were stationed at key points along the course to verify that Greg stayed to the outside of the markers, and traveled the full distance measured. The record is unofficial until it is ratified by the International Human Powered Vehicle Association and Guinness World Records.
Critical Power 2 is considered to be the most efficient self-powered boat on the planet over long distances. It can maintain a speed of 10 km/hr with an easy to moderate cycling pace. CP2 has a carbon fiber trim that was designed by Brisbane, Australia-based human powered boat expert Rick Willoughby, and built by Greg Kolodziejzyk. Its 24-foot-long hull is only nine inches wide, weighs less than 20 lbs and displaces only four inches of water. Greg is positioned in a recumbent seat mounted on the deck enabling a powerful pedalling position. The pedals turn a right angle gear box which spins a shaft leading to a propeller under the water. The main hull balances on the water by two small outrigger floats mounted to each side of the main hull. The entire boat weighs less than 40 pounds and its top speed is 17 km/hr.
Greg’s record is considered significant because it is the first time that a pedal powered boat has beaten a conventional kayak for distances of longer than a few kilometers.
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