Johen Lefont

Varadero, Cuba, Sep 15 (PL) Cuban Johen Lefont set a world record today for the second consecutive day in the domain of the ball, as part of the III Open Water Crossing Gran Retto Cuba.

After setting a world record by hitting a ball 172 times with his head in a swimming pool in just one minute, the native of the province of Matanzas chose this Sunday the famous waters of the Varadero beach resort to cover 750 meters while keeping the ball balanced on his head.

The previous record was 600 meters, also in his possession, and yesterday, Saturday, he went out to break it but the adverse weather conditions, especially the waves, forced him to give up.

"Now I'm going to release a little tension. It is a modality that I have been training for a long time. In the first half I practically did not advance because of the tension I had, but then I released the pressure and everything flowed easier," he told Prensa Latina.

"It affected me a bit to have failed yesterday but regardless that the weather conditions today were not the most favorable I was able to achieve it and I am very happy about that," he added.

The athlete from the province of Matanzas, who was greeted at the finish line by the world record holder in high jump, Javier Sotomayor, told the agency that before the end of the year he plans to break two other world records with body weight.

Lefont has a dozen world records, 10 of them recognized by the Guinness World Records and one in the process of validation, not counting the one of the day before.

His first world record was in February 2010 and since then he has continued to break records, with a highlight for the one achieved two months ago in a pool with 2031 touches with his head and a five-kilogram weight on his waist.