Rock on! Man breaks stone-skipping record

updated 7:07 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2007

FRANKLIN, Pa. - A Pennsylvania man cast a stone that skipped on water a whopping 51 times, shattering the old world record of 40.

Russell “Rock Bottom” Byars’ feat happened July 19, where the Allegheny River meets French Creek in Franklin, about 70 miles north of Pittsburgh. He estimated his stone traveled about 250 feet.

Before declaring him a record-holder, Guinness World Records experts analyzed film of Byars’ toss, checking the concentric circles in the water by each skip.

“I actually threw 40 stones that day, but that was the first skip that I threw,” Byars told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which confirmed the record with Guinness officials.

The old record, set in 2002, was held by Kurt Steiner, 42, of Emporium.

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