Shallow Diver Breaks World Record

March 17, 2011 — -- Guiness world record holder Darren Taylor is making a splash all over the Internet with his shallow dive act.

In February, the 50-year-old Denver man jumped from 36.2 feet into a children's wading pool in Trondheim, Norway. He'd been invited to entertain engineering students. That day, he broke his previously set record of 36.1 inches.

"I did an incredible job in front of a rowdy crowd. It was a beautiful dive," he said. "I rocked their boat."

He said that afterward, he was treated to a three-course dinner and then taken around the town. "The kids couldn't believe it," he said.

Under the moniker "Professor Splash," Taylor has dived 13 times into the same wading pool -- the 14th dive occurred in a new one. He has performed in six different countries. This month, he broke the Norway record by jumping 36.3 feet at a Guinness show in Milan, Italy.

After that jump, he suffered his first moderate concussion. "My head swelled," he said. "I've been hurt over the years real bad."

Though he's been jumping for five years, he said he didn't know why he continued to do it.

"It scares the life out of me," he said. "It's such an adventure when I do these things. They're really scary."

But Taylor said he gets to travel and has gotten up to $20,000 for a single jump.