Video: World’s highest jump out of water wearing a monofin

This is the moment when the world record for the highest jump out of water wearing a monofin was smashed.

Omar Sayed Shaaban, a 21-year young swimmer from Ismailia, Egypt, bagged the Guinness World Record after recording an impressive 2.30-metre jump. The feat ended a 9-year monopoly on the record.

Monofins look like a ‘mermaid’s tail’ and swimming with them is considered a niche sport. It is a type of swim fin typically used in underwater sports such as fin swimming, free-diving and underwater orienteering.

Civil engineering student Omar trains three times a day, two of them in water, with a gym session in-between to achieve a "dolphin-like excellence".

“I practise to increase my limb beat frequency and obtain stiffer muscles, but my aim is never to bulk up,” said Shaaban. “Bigger muscles make it hard to sprint in water, so I work out to maintain cutting cycle, increase flexibility, enhance muscle reflexes and of course build stronger legs.

“As a sprinter, I understand that even thinking burns oxygen, so I tend to focus on the present moment. Part of our training is to learn how to be extremely relaxed inside the water,” added the student.

• Egypt