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Have you ever tried folding bottle caps?
Despite all these shaky odds, a teenager from Windsor, Ontario, has earned himself a Guinness World Record for the most bottle caps stacked in 30 seconds using chopsticks. This is the category up to 16 years old.
“I didn't even know how to use chopsticks. A few days turned into a few weeks… it was very, very difficult for me to begin with. So I just kept training. My determination really helped,” Daniel Joseph Ireneo told CBC News on Sunday.
The 14-year-old boy said he got the idea from the 2020 Guinness World Records book his mother gave him when he was eight years old.
The most number of plastic bottle caps stacked in a tower using chopsticks in 30 seconds is 23, achieved by Silvio Sabba in Italy in 2018. Ireneo folded 12 caps in 30 seconds on August 13, just a couple of days before his birthday.
From three caps in a stack to five and finally 12 in a tall column, Ireneo said it took hours and weeks of tireless practice to first build a strong foundation. Once he mastered this skill, the next herculean task was improving his speed.
“I never knew I would be in the Guinness Book of World Records,” he said. “Keep going, have determination, because you never know where it will take you.”
The Grade 9 student at St Joseph's Catholic High School, popularly known as DJ, said he couldn't have achieved this without the support of his parents.
He said there were times when he thought about quitting, but his parents continued to “inspire” him. The DJ said he was looking forward to sharing the news with his colleagues on Monday.
'Overloaded'
His mother, Vivian Ireneo, still remembers the August night when, tired from work, she came home and was asked to film the DJ at work.
“I said, ‘DJ, it’s okay, just give up.’ But he said, ‘Mom, no, I’ll never give up. I'll do my best.” And then when he did it in 30 seconds, I was stunned. I don't know how to say it. I'm still speechless,” she said.
Ireneo said her son continued to train after school and always told her that “practice makes perfect.”
“In turn, I kept telling him: put your feet on the ground, just be humble,” she said. “Our family in the Philippines also rejoices at his victory.”
Madeline Butak, his aunt, said she was surprised by the teen's persistence and victory through it all.
“I'm happy for DJ. We always support him. He's a good example for young kids to start doing something other than just video games, something worth trying and rewarding for it, and also reinforces discipline.”
The family says they are very proud to see the teenager's hard work pay off and hope great things will follow. For the young champion, this is a lesson that will help him reach his full potential and dream of becoming a doctor.
“Most people and their success story just show you the good side, but you will never know the struggle they had to go through, the dedication they had. So never give up. Struggle is important.”
