Skinny Dipping Record Attempted for Cancer Cure, Glory in Guinness World Records

June 20 2011 — -- Imagine 400 Welsh folks of all ages running into the ocean. Now imagine them naked.

Hundreds of skinny dippers may have now broken a Guinness World Record -- the largest group of naked people to jump into a body of water together and wade for at least 10 minutes.

Congratulations?

Well, Guinness has yet to evaluate the feat, but the group that organized the nude dip raised an estimated $20,000 for its favorite charities, the National Trust and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

What makes this record so impressive? It's either the sheer amount of nudity in one place or the hundreds agreeing to jump into cold water naked. It's also spread all over the Internet.

One youthful male participant said, "The thing about it is, it's not just the cold, it's the fact that there's 400-plus people totally naked, screaming their heads off. It's just the bizarrest experience I think I've ever had."

According to some of the 'dippers, the water didn't feel too cold at 54 deg F. And participants seemed comfortable being interviewed after the 10-minute dip.

"Exhilarating! It's much warmer than I thought it would be. So exciting to go over the waves as well," said an excited older woman.

With all the enthusiasm, this group may be in line for a little Guinness World Record fame. Believe it or not, there is more than one category for skinny dipping in the record book; the Welsh group was trying to break the record for most nudists in one place. If you have multiple locations -- well, that's why Guinness has another category.

From the Guinness website: "The largest skinny dipping event involved 13,674 participants, organised by AANR (USA) [the American Association for Nude Recreation] across multiple locations in the USA, on 11 July 2008."

Now that is impressive.

For all of the aspiring record breakers out there, this story lends one bit of encouragement. You don't have to be the heaviest man to finish a marathon (400 lbs) or the woman with the smallest waist (15 in). With a little bravery and a slip of modesty, your bum may be the next one printed in the Guinness Book of World Records.