Young pair attempt marathon effort
"We don't have to play high intensity, it's more about the mind than the body." Kaitlyn Watts
If young Palmerston North squash players Kaitlyn Watts and Richard Bell aren’t sick of squash by the end of their world record attempt, then they never will.
The teenage pair are attempting to break at world record of playing squash on their home court at Squashgym Palmerston North for 40 hours, starting at 4am on Thursday, November 30, and will run until 8pm the next day.
It is a fundraiser event for both of them to go to the American junior open in New Haven, Connecticut in December and the British junior open in Birmingham in January.
The world record of longest marathon playing squash is 38 hours 27 seconds, set by Len Granger and Jamie Barnett of the UK two years ago.
But the young Kiwi pair believe they can do better, with 40 hours of non-stop squash.
‘‘Richard, the guy I’m doing it with, just asked if I wanted to do it with him and it would be cool to see whether we could do a world record,’’ Watts said.
They recently played seven hours in a day as training, which was the longest they had done.
Watts said she was sore during the long training spell, but felt fine afterwards.
They are allowed a five-minute break every hour, but they can accumulate those breaks if do a few hours at a time and can have a longer break.
‘‘I think the hardest bit is going to be doing it in the middle of the night.
‘‘We don’t have to play high intensity, it’s more about the mind than the body.’’
Watts said a lot of people will be coming down to support them throughout the attempt.
Bell is 16 and at Palmerston North Boys’ High School, while 16-year-old Watts is at Freyberg High School.
In April 2015, Manawatu¯ men Adam Fisher and Darren Yates set the world record of 36 hours of squash in Perth, so Fisher has given the young pair some advice.