An incredible feat of athleticism was performed when 13 time Panamanian surfing champion Gary Saavedra set a Guinness World Records for longest time and distance surfed on open water. The previous record was held by England’s Steve King who surfed for one hour, six minutes back in 2006.

Saavedra set the record after surfing a wave created by a boat moving through the Panama Canal for three hours, 55 minutes and two seconds, while spanning a distance of 66km.

After traversing the choppy waters, he stated “This record feels incredible. I had never confronted these conditions and to surpass all these challenges and establish two Guinness records is the biggest achievement of my professional career so far.”

Sponsored by Red Bull, Saavedra took part in the company’s project testing the limits of human endurance. He was disappointed that he couldn’t maintain a longer time as severe thigh spasms forced him to abandon the wave.

After witnessing the record a Guinness spokesman who certified the records said “Everyone that breaks a record does something incredible but what Gary did was truly amazing. He pushed himself to an unbelievable limit where the only thing that stopped him was his body, not his will.”