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It may look like a tranquil walk across a beautiful lake, but for one daredevil climber and sportsman this was no country stroll.
In stark contrast to the perfectly clam waters of Green Lake, Austria, extreme sport champion Mich Kemeter struggled to stay focused as he edged along 250m of slackline.
But after 35 attempts the Austrian-born adventurer finally made it to the other end, breaking his own world record for ‘waterlining’.
The challenge he set himself, to walk the length of three football pitches suspended only by a strip of canvas, tested his mental and physical capabilities to the limits.
Holding his arms in a horizontal position for half an hour at a time put the athlete in intense pain as his shoulder and bicep muscles started burning.
He also had to stay focused on the other end of the line for balance, while knowing that at any second a slight gust of wind could send him tumbling.
On one attempt he made it to within 6 meters of the finish before losing his balance and falling into the water.
But eventually, 20 days after his first attempt and watched along by family and sports enthusiasts, Mich finally reached the other side.
He said: ‘It is an incredible feeling to break your own record. The biggest issue is the wind and the weather conditions – you have to wait to make it as perfect as possible for the actual walk.
‘You have to focus and you have to be really patient and accept certain circumstances.’
‘But the water was beautiful, the sun was shining and the lake was reflecting like a mirror. The whole thing was pure, like the water. I felt really connected with nature, its energy and spirit.’
The successful crossing came on the day Mich had set as the last one to break his record, as worsening weather and shortening daylight would have put the record out of reach.
Mich, who is also a world-class free solo climber and basejumper, added: ‘My cousin and his girlfriend were there on the last day and those guys were just screaming at me for the last few metres – saying “come on, you can do it”.’
‘It helped me so much because I hadn’t see those people for quite a long time and they gave me so much of their good spirit.’
By crossing the line, Mich smashed his own 2012 waterline record of 222m, which he set at the same stunning location, where he also grew up.
He now plans to continue breaking his record each year by 10m for every year of his life – meaning he will have to walk 400m by the time he is 40.
Mich, nicknamed the ‘Austrian Daredevil’, has always prided himself on pushing and opening up new levels in extreme sports and has a total of six records in slacklining disciplines.
Some of his other extreme achievements include climbing 1000ft up a sheer gorge in the Grand canyon du Verdon in the south of France without a safety rope and scaling 45 floors of the tallest building in the city of Changsha in China – again without equipment.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2430496/Daredevil-Mich-Kemeter-smashes-waterlining-world-record-tiptoes-250m-slackline.html#ixzz2fpSpqGkI
