By Devon Robinson | Sports Editor
Photo by NewsChannel 5- WTVF
Sophomore David Scherer never talked about what he could not do. Scherer only spoke of what he will do. Now, there is no more will. He beat the Guinness World Record for the longest session of Grand Theft Auto IV in a single sitting with 55 hours.
He didn’t do it for just bragging rights, but most of all, for the kids.
Scherer is a coach for the Fort Campbell Swimming Eagles swim team. The Swimming Eagles is a non-profit, parent-run competitive swim team that has been around for 17 years. While he set this new record, he aimed to raise money for a new swimming pool for his team.
“The kids all thought that it was the coolest thing ever, that their coach was willing to do something as weird and crazy as this. I was just happy to do something to bring attention to the team. We have a relatively small roster and we really need to grow it,” Scherer said.
Grand Theft Auto IV, made by Rockstar, is a video game that can be played on the PC, Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. The game is ideal for long hours of play because of its non-linear gameplay. Set in Liberty City, the action-adventure game is packed full of missions and goals that could amount to 100-plus hours of gameplay.
The record was first set by 26-year-old Chirantan Patnaik, who set the time at a then-astounding 40 hours and 20 minutes. With a great deal of help from Retro’s Classic Arcade, Scherer sought to beat this time.
Retro’s provided the place where he could set the record, accompanied with a large high-definition television and Internet so he could record the attempt. Throughout the nearly three-day session, people were allowed to come watch him play or keep him company to help him stay awake.
For a normal person, breaks probably would be the most difficult for this period of time. The Guinness World Record allProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ed a break at the end of each hour, but that proved to be far too many breaks for Scherer.
“I took three breaks, but only two bathroom breaks. During one of the breaks there were several young kids that wanted me to play one of the arcade games with them, so I did that instead of using the restroom,” Scherer said.
As of press time, Monday, Jan. 18, Scherer and his team raised about $1,500 for the new swimming facility.
“While that is no where near enough for a pool, it is a great start and we really appreciate every little bit of support,” he said.
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