Six divers in Australia have claimed a new world record after walking 60 miles under water.

Jayne Jenkins on the 60-mile underwater walk

Wearing suits, weights and thick-soled dive boots, buddy-pairs of divers worked in shifts to follow a rope-marked course across Chowder Bay in Sydney. They took turns to sleep in four-hour blocks, and completed the task in 46 hours ­ two less than planned.

The previous record was set 23 years ago by Australian Navy divers, the Guinness Book of Records showing 52 miles as the worldıs longest underwater walk. One of the divers on the latest walk, David Strike, also took part in both the 1983 and the earlier 1976 record-breaking walks.

Jayne Jenkins, the only woman on the 60-mile walk, told the Sydney Morning Herald that she had agreed to take part while jet-lagged: "I didn't realise there would only be six people," she said. "I thought there would be about 50 or 60 people all walking for about an hour!"

Local divers accompanied the team on their laps as observers, and spectators took part in workshops and presentations. Donations raised from the walk will go to air-ambulance service NRMA CareFlight.


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