2 Toledo teens break world record for consecutive hours on a rowing machine

Bailey O'Brien, 18, center left, and James Miller, 17, center, right, embrace after the pair completed their world record rowing session Sunday at St. John's Jesuit Academy.

The Blade/Katie Rausch
Buy This Image

Bailey O'Brien, 18, center left, grimaces as he finishes the final minute of rowing during a world record breaking 48-hour-long session between himself and co-rower James Miller, 17, right, Sunday at St. John's Jesuit Academy.

Two teens spent 48 hours on a rowing machine at St. John’s Jesuit High School, smashing a previous world record for most consecutive hours on a rowing machine.

Bailey O'Brien, 18, center left, and James Miller, 17, center, right, embrace after the pair completed their world record rowing session Sunday at St. John's Jesuit Academy.

Bailey O’Brien, 18, who just graduated from St. John’s, and James Miller, 17, who in the fall will be a senior at the high school, took turns on the same machine for two straight days to break a previous world-record of 40 hours and 30 minutes.

The two started rowing at noon Friday and finished at noon today, as a group of about three dozen family, friends, school officials, and crew teammates cheered and the Rocky movie theme played on speakers inside the school’s McQuade Theater.

They broke the record around 4:30 a.m., but continued rowing until they completed 48 hours of exercise.

The effort doubled as a fundraiser for the Toledo Labre program, which aids the area’s homeless and needy. The teens raised roughly $8,000 in donations from individuals and businesses.