World's Largest Acrylic Panel : Dubai Mall

Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre Sets Guinness Record for 'World's Largest Acrylic Panel' at The Dubai Mall. Dubai Aquarium ; Discovery Centre in The Dubai Mall, which opens on November 4, 2008, has clinched the Guinness World Record for the 'World's Largest Acrylic Panel'

Measuring 32.88 metres wide x 8.3 metres high x 750 mm thick and weighing 245,614 kg, the viewing panel at Dubai Aquarium surpasses the current Guinness World Record holder, Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan, at 22.5 metres wide x 8.2 metres high and 600 mm thick.

The Dubai Aquarium viewing panel dimensions were set at the limit of production abilities by major acrylic manufacturers when it was commissioned. Thus, its Guinness World Record is set to stay until industry-approved manufacturing capabilities are redrawn to enable the production of bigger panels.

At 750 mm thick, the acrylic viewing panel is built to withstand the enormous pressure of 10 million litres of water used in the aquarium, but transparent to give visitors clear views of the 33,000 plus marine animals on display.

Mr Yousif Al Ali, General Manager, The Dubai Mall said: "With this achievement, we are highlighting the capabilities of Emaar and Dubai to undertake and execute projects of global significance."

Mr John Pilley, Adjudicator, Guinness World Records said: "The Dubai Mall joins Dubai's illustrious list of World Records with the 'Largest Acrylic Panel', once again reiterating the can-do attitude of Dubai. This exemplifies the dedication and passion that make some of our best records."

Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre is developed and operated by Oceanis Australia Group. The Dubai Mall has adopted an International Standard of Ethics and Animal Welfare Policy in its development and operation.

With a total internal floor area of 5.9 million sq ft, The Dubai Mall has 3.77 million sq ft of gross leasable space and hosts over 1,200 retail outlets including two anchor department stores -Galeries Lafayette and Bloomingdale's - and features over 160 food and beverage options.
Other attractions include the Olympic-size Dubai Ice Rink; Fashion Avenue, a 440,000 sq ft haute couture precinct; The Grove, an indoor-outdoor themed streetscape; the region's first SEGA indoor theme park covering 76,000 sq ft; KidZania(R), an 80,000 sq ft children's 'edu-tainment' centre; and a 22-screen Cineplex, the largest in Dubai.

Italian Swimmer set World Longest Swimming Record

IT IS a trial of endurance that pits the lone swimmer against the forces of nature. Now, the discipline of marathon swimming has a new hero, after an Italian man swam for more than 100km (62 miles) in 24 hours.

Mauro Giaconia, 37, won a place in Guinness World Records for the longest swim in a lagoon after he covered 101km in a marathon endurance test in the vast sea-water swimming pool of a South American hotel.

The swimmer described yesterday how his tongue grew numb after hours of pushing through salt water. He expects to lose his sense of taste for up to two months – "but that usually happens with sea water," he said.

Mr Giaconia struggled to keep swimming on course in the pool, which is itself a record holder – it is the world's largest at 1,013m (3,324ft) long. It covers an area of 20 acres and reaches as deep as 35m.

Lifeguards switched on the lights at night, but he eventually opted to swim in the dark. "I kept going with a lot of enthusiasm to do the task," he said.

He describes himself on his website as a sportsman who "likes extreme and challenging sports, even if they mean hours of solitude". He was recently voted sportsman of the year in Palermo, Sicily.

He was only 14 years old when he began long-distance swimming in Palermo. After briefly "flirting" with kite surfing, boxing and cycling, he returned to his real passion of swimming and has spent the past eight years setting endurance records.

He has swum marathons over 12 and 24 hours in both swimming pools and the open sea, from the gulf of Palermo to the Strait of Gibraltar.

He warmed up for the record in San Alfonso del Mar, on the west coast of Chile, 80km from the capital, Santiago, by swimming three 24-hour races in Austria, Italy and the United States.

In 2005, a group of 20 Finnish swimmers broke a world record for 24-hour swimming that had stood for 23 years. In a relay, they logged 184,994 metres during a 24-hour period, breaking the former record of 182,807m by a group from New Zealand.

The team swimmers were not quite up to Mr Giaconia's feat of endurance. They swum on average 9,250m per swimmer, but there was no exact information on how much water each individual swimmer covered.


BACKGROUND

MARATHON swimming is an endurance sport defined by the International Swimming Federation to be a swim of least 10km in length, and swimmers cannot use wet suits.

While a 10km open water race was added to the Olympic medal stakes in the 2008 Beijing games, record-breaking swimmers pursue longer records in tougher conditions.

On 25 August, 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aids. He swam from Dover to Calais in less than 22 hours, smeared in porpoise oil, covering a zig-zag course across the Channel measured at over 39 miles (64 km) long. Modern swimmers have cut the crossing distance to about 21 miles (32km).

In 1987 the American swimmer Lynne Cox famously swam across the Bering Strait between the US and the USSR, approximately 50 miles.

Guinness World Record for sitting on 40,040 seats in 48 hours

Terry Twining, who is a member of the Adjutant General's Corps and has been in the Army for 18 years, averaged one seat every four seconds at Belgium's King Baudouin national football stadium, raising more than £4,000 for charity.

Sergeant Twining, who lives with his family in Gosport, Hants, completed the challenge just weeks after a triple hernia operation and beat the previous record by 790.

He said: "It's brilliant that I've broken the record but my legs are killing me.

"It was hard work but such a relief when it was finally over, and the money is going to a great cause, which is very close to my heart.

"I knew that sitting in all those seats would be an extreme challenge - that's why I decided to do it and I'm just overjoyed that I managed it."

The previous record of 39,250 seats was set at the Rose Bowl stadium in California, USA, in 2007.

To get in shape for the challenge, he sat in all 9,205 seats of RAEC Mons football stadium in Mons, Belgium, in five hours and 30 minutes last August - an average one seat every two seconds.

He raised funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care after his grandfather died of lung cancer and his mother was diagnosed with cancer last Easter.

He has previously run 21 marathons in 21 days, completed 24 hours on a treadmill and done a 24-hour combat fitness test.

This takes his fundraising total from his challenges over recent years to more than £50,000, which has all been donated to good causes.