Fayetteville breaks world record for largest swim lesson

The first of what may become an annual record-breaking attempt was a success Friday night as Fayetteville broke the world record for the largest swim lesson in a single swimming pool.

The official count of 262 people in the Wilson Park pool barely topped the 250 required by Guinness World Record officials. The lesson started about 20 minutes late while lifeguards rounded up as many people as possible to join in.

After hearing they’d broken the world record, most of the participants cheered and celebrated with a group cannonball into the pool.

“This is something we hope to do every year,” said Brad Dutton of the city’s Parks and Recreation division. “Who knows, maybe we’ll break the world record for most people to yo-yo simultaneously,” he added. According to the Guinness World Record website, they’ll need to gather at least 500 people for that one.

The event marked the opening day for the pool and was topped off with the first Dive-In movie of the season as many stayed for the showing of “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.” The Dive-In movie series is sponsored again this year by the Fayetteville Fire Department who presented a check for $2,500 to cover the cost of showing the movies publicly.

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