On February 11, 2017 Rob McLeod will attempt to break 3 Guinness World Records for Self-Caught Flight on Ice Skates at the Silver Skate Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at Hawrelak Park. Rob currently holds these 3 records which he has set at previous Silver Skate Festivals (2013 & 2015).
Rob will be joined by Jill Duffy and Jennie Orsten, two ultimate players from Calgary, who will be attempting to break the Women’s records in the same 3 categories as Rob’s records.
Official Announcement
Meet Jill Duffy
Meet Jennie Orsten
The Competitors
Rob McLeod is a motivational speaker and Frisbee ambassador living in Calgary. He currently holds 6 Guinness World Records and 10 World Championships in Frisbee including the 3 Men’s Guinness World Records for Self Caught Flight on ice skates. Rob is excited to be attempting to break his own records and is even more excited to train and work with Jennie and Jill as they pursue the Women’s records. Rob will be attempting his records in his well seasoned hockey skates which he wore 16 years ago when his high school hockey team won the New Brunswick AA Provincial Championships!
Jill Duffy is an Project Controls Lead for an oil and gas start-up in downtown Calgary. She has been skating since she could walk and plays women’s hockey twice a week. After a severe concussion kept Jill on the sidelines for two years, she decided to be more open to trying new things and 7 years ago, started playing ultimate Frisbee. This will be Jill’s first time attempting a world record and she’s excited to share this adventure with her partner’s two young boys to show them that anything is possible. She will be attempting the records wearing hockey skates – her good pair!
Jennie Orsten is a second year bio sciences student at the University of Calgary. A competitive figure skater most of her life, Jennie has turned her focus to ultimate frisbee and has her sights set on the U24 Canadian National Team that will be competing in the 2018 World Championships in Australia. This will be Jennie’s first time attempting a world record but she’s excited to have the opportunity to make history. She will be attempting to set the women’s records wearing her trusty figure skates – toe pick included!
About the Records
Self-Caught Flight (SCF) includes two events with the intention throwing the disc in a high boomerang flight allowing the thrower to then catch it — with one hand! In Maximum Time Aloft (MTA), a player aims to accumulate a maximum number of seconds between the throw and catch; in Throw, Run and Catch (TRC), the object is to accumulate a maximum number of meters between the throw and catch. To get good results, players must be adept at gauging the wind, “reading” the flight of a disc and employing good catching techniques.
- Maximum Time Aloft (MTA)
- Throw, Run and Catch (TRC)
- Self Caught Flight (SCF)
Maximum Time Aloft (MTA)
The intention is to have your disc stay in the air (aloft!) as long as possible and then catch it with one hand before it reaches the ground. The time that the disc remains in the air is measured with a stopwatch. Players get five attempts and the best time counts. For an accurate timing, three stop- watches are used. The median or middle time of the three times is used. At the moment the world record is 16.72 seconds.
Throw, Run and Catch (TRC)
The player throws, and then runs to catch the disc with one hand. The distance between the circle where the disc was thrown and where it was caught, is measured. Players get five attempts and the best one counts. At the moment the world record is 94 meters.
Self Caught Flight (SCF)
MTA and TRC are often combined into one event by having players throw five attempts of each discipline. The SCF score is derived by taking the TRC result in meters and adding it to the MTA time in seconds which is multiplied by a factor 5.5. This is because the general rule of thumb is that 1 second equals 5.5 meters. Therefore, a 40 m TRC and 7.3 second MTA would result in an SCF score of 40 + (7.3 × 5.5) = 80.15.