New world record set on Whitefish Lake

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

A Canadian man set a world record on Whitefish Lake on Monday by peddling his human-powered boat for 24 hours straight.

Greg Kolodziejzyk, a multi-sport endurance athlete from Calgary, Alberta, started pedaling his boat, Critical Power 2, at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. He made continual loops without stopping around a circular 10K course marked with buoys. The buoys were marked with glow-sticks throughout the night.

The 24-hour human-powered boat record will be observed, officiated and ratified by the International Human Powered Vehicle Association and Guinness Book of World Records.

Kolodziejzyk traveled a total distance of 245.02 kilometers, or 151.2 miles, during his 24-hour trip. His average speed was 10.21 kph, or 6.3 mph.

The previous world record was 243 kilometers, set by Carter Johnson on April 29-30, 2006, on Lake Merced, in California.

While Carter used a surfski kayak, Kolodziejzyk used a specially designed, state-of-the-art carbon-fiber pedal-powered boat. This is the first time that a pedal-powered boat has demonstrated greater efficiency than a conventional kayak for distances longer than a few kilometers.

During Kolodziejzyk's attempt, official observers from the international human powered vehicle association were stationed at key points along the circular course to verify that he stayed to the outside of the markers, and traveled the full distance measured.

Kolodziejzyk is already dubbed "the fastest man on earth." He set a world record for the most distance covered by human power in 24 hours on land in 2006. He powered his custom-made carbon-fiber bullet bike "Critical Power" 1,046 kilometers on a race track in California, breaking the previous world record by 26 kilometers.

Kolodziejzyk also holds a Guinness world record for the most distance traveled in 24 hours by pedal-powered boat, which he accomplished in June 2007 in Calgary.

He is an endurance athlete who has finished dozens of marathons and 12 Ironman triathlons. He qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

During his attempt on Whitefish Lake, Kolodziejzyk received food rations of about 450 calories every hour from his support team to keep his energy up. He also blogged about his race from his boat using a Blackberry.

At 8:38 p.m. Monday night he wrote, "It's getting dark on the lake, and it is breath taking. Seriously — another world. We have LED lights on the buoys, and I can see them from across the lake. Much better than the day."

At 1:07 a.m., he wrote, "15.5 hours in and I'm feeling amazing. I know it can change in a minute, but I'm really having a great time right now."