Published in the July 8, 2015
By DAN TOMASELLO
James Roumeliotis
PHILADEPHIA, Pa. — Lynnfield native James Roumeliotis briefly set a Guinness World Record for Most Consecutive Bounces on a Pogo Stick at the annual World Championships of Xpogo in Philadelphia, Pa. on July 2.
Roumeliotis recorded 86,757 bounces in eight-and-a-half hours in the highly anticipated “Battle of the Bounce,” where he faced off against two other po–goers while trying to break the Most Consecutive Bounce record. He held the record for less than two hours before United Kingdom resident Jack Sexty set a world record of 88,044 bounces in 10 hours and 20 minutes. Florida resident Casie Merza also competed in the Battle of the Bounce and finished with 75,281 bounces.
The three po–goers surpassed the previous Most Consecutive Bounce Record of 75,005 bounces, which Merza set last month.
Roumeliotis said he was pleased with his performance during the Battle of the Bounce.
“It felt great holding the world record for a couple of hours until Jack came back and broke the record after I hit a mental block,” said Roumeliotis. “It was a great experience because Jack and Casie were just like me and were trying to raise money for causes that are important to them.”
Roumeliotis said he started hitting the wall the last hour–and–a–half he competed in the Battle of the Bounce.
“It was exhausting,” said Roumeliotis. “The pain was there but in the past I was able to push through it. But I let the pain get the better of me and I just couldn’t go on any farther.”
In addition to competing in the Battle of the Bounce, Roumeliotis also raised close to $800 for his non–profit organization Bounce to a Cure. He founded Bounce to a Cure in 2007 while he was a senior in college to raise money for sclerdoerma, an autoimmune disease that mostly affects the skin.
Roumeliotis said he will continue raising funds as part of The Battle of the Bounce competition the next couple of weeks. He has raised $30,000 to support scleroderma research since he founded the non–profit organization.
Roumeliotis first set a Guinness World Record in September 2007 for Longest Marathon on a Pogo Stick, which featured 186,152 bounces over the course of 19 hours. He set the Longest Marathon record of 206,864 bounces in 21 hours at Pogopalooza in Costa Mesa, Calif. in July 2011.
In July 2012, Roumeliotis returned to Costa Mesa and set the Longest Distance on a Pogo Stick record of 23.3 miles in 14 hours. In July 2013, Roumeliotis set the Most Consecutive Bounces on a Pogo Stick (without breaks) record of 70,271 bounces in seven hours in New York City.
With the Battle of the Bounce drawn to a close, Roumeliotis said he is going to retire from trying to set any future Guinness World Records.
“Looking back on the past nine years, I am really satisfied with what I accomplished,” said Roumeliotis. “I am still going to be involved with the Xpogo community and Pogopalooza. I want to continue building the Bounce to a Cure brand and I want to support and promote other athletes who want to break pogo endurance records.”
Roumeliotis graduated from Lynnfield High School in 2004 and also graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is currently working as an engineer at the Eliza Corporation. The current Hudson resident said he is planning on moving back to the North Shore in the near future. He is the son of Gina Gustafson of 68 Crest Rd.
If residents want to help Roumeliotis raise money for Bounce to a Cure, they should visit https://support.srfcure.org/fundraise?fcid=471828 or https://bouncetoacure.com/donate.
