Jump, jump, sugar lump

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A woman from Paarl, Linda Potgieter, has jumped herself into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most bungee jumps in an hour - 23. This is an average of one jump every two and a half minutes.

Potgieter's bungee bonanza took place from South Africa's highest bridge, Bloukrans Bridge, 216m above Bloukrans River near Plettenberg Bay, in August.

Physically and mentally it was an extremely taxing task, so it is no surprise that the previous record of 19 jumps had remained unbroken for 19 years. Two adjudicators from Guinness World Records in London attended the event and confirmed her official record amid whoops of joy.

Now she's looking forward to receiving the official certificates.

"It's not just something you decide on, that today I'm going to break the record," she said.

A lot of hard work went into it and Potgieter said she could not have done it without the help of Corné Steenkamp, a biokeneticist from Paarl and the fine-tuning of Loffie Eloff, an international rugby coach.

The challenge of organising the event was handled by her sponsors, Stumbo Record Breakers, "who put the whole thing together", as well as the team of Face Adrenalin, that owns the Bloukrans Bungee site and was involved in the safety aspects and logistics on the day. In all, 25 people assisted.

Linda said her best feeling came after her 20th jump, when she knew she had beaten the previous record of 19 jumps – "and then I went on for a few more...". Her son Jamie was "quietly proud" of his mother's feat.

"But the biggest support came from my husband, Jan, who knew what encouragement I needed: I told him that I wanted to hear his voice above everything else, and this spurred me on."

Linda, who runs her own company as a confidence and personal style coach, began adventure sports to break through a barrier of being "quite fearful" in her younger days, coming from an abusive background and being raised in several different homes. Skydiving and bungee jumping soon became her biggest passions.

"It turned into a fun way of life," said Linda, who is originally from KwaZulu-Natal, but now lives in Paarl.

Her exploits at Bloukrans had a further spin-off. She used the occasion to raise funds for the Franschoek Valley Community Sport Centre. And her proudest moment? A message from the previous record holder and fellow South African, Veronica Dean, who said, "Well done".

Linda Potgieter takes the plunge.