Secret Life of a Guinness World Records Judge

Before their feats are etched in history, would-be record breakers must impress one woman who travels the globe with a stopwatch, a tape measure, and an appreciation for eccentric accomplishment.

Illustration by Jessica Campbell

August 30, 2011. The sky is dull, grey. There is a chill in the air, typical of the English summer.

Roger Allsopp, age seventy years and four months, has been swimming for approximately five hours. Five hours since his eight a.m. start. Five hours since he walked, feet slipping on the wet pebbles, into the tide at Shakespeare Beach in Dover. Five months since he first swam across the English Channel. The first five hours were the physical test, the rest is left to the power of his mind. The retired breast cancer surgeon reminds himself why he’s doing this, reminds himself of the thousands of pounds that will be raised for cancer research at the University of Southampton.