HYDERABAD: A 14-member team of the Adventure Club of Andhra Pradesh (ACAP) has claimed to have set nine world records in heavy waterfall. Rappelling-down and Jumaring-up adventure activities at the 400ft high Katika waterfall near Ananthagiri mandal in Visakhapatnam district.K Ranga Rao, team leader for the mission, said, “We have created 9 records on January 24 in the freezing waters of Katika waterfall in temperatures of 2 to 3 degree celsius.” Chief instructor of the club, R Kiran Kumar, who had visited the waterfall a couple of years ago and was a part of the four-member team that discovered the waterfall, said, “we never thought of a record in this sport, but wanted to promote adventure tourism in the state”. He said it was the photographs and video footage posted online that alerted them about the record. “Experts and well-wishers convinced us that it was a record feat and then we tried once more in October last year before approaching the Limca Book of Records,” he explained at a press conference here on Monday.Roshini Singh and P Yogesh Kumar, both aged 17, were also part of the team that set the world records in the extremely dangerous sport, which according to Rao, has not been tried anywhere in the world. Kiran Kumar set a hat-trick record rappelling down the 400 ft high waterfall and also set the record for being the first person to jumar-up the waterfall. I Vijayalakshmi became the first woman to rappel down the fall whereas P Sandesh Kumar created the record among the record holders by doing the same blindfolded. “We had a one week acclimatization camp in the region for load carrying, along with doing up and down on ice-cold waters, and slippery surface on the waterfall,” Kiran recalled. Fitness certificate was a must along with a risk bond signed by the relatives, he added. “When approached with the concept, Limca Book of Records gave us the green signal stating that nobody has tried this before. We have documented our achievements and would be submitting it in a couple of weeks following which our achievements would be mentioned in the next edition of the book in 2013,” said Kiran.
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