Man bids to break world record for most bungee jumps in 24 hours

A man from France who had a childhood fear of heights is set to travel to Scotland and attempt to break the world record for the most bungee jumps ever completed in 24 hours.

As a kid, Francois-Marie Dibon, 44, even struggled to drive from the side of a swimming pool.

However, he will now aim to break the record of 430 jumps in one day, which was set in 2017 by Mike Heard at Auckland Harbour Bridge in New Zealand.

He will make the 40m jump from Garry Bridge near Killiecrankie in Perthshire, operated by Highland Fling Bungee.

An adjudicator from the Guinness Book of Records from London will be on location with Francois and his team of jump masters, who will operate in four shifts, starting on Tuesday morning.

Francois, who was raised in Paris, works as an actuary in employee benefits in Stockholm.

He will jump through the night, taking small rest breaks and micro-napping.

The plans to make the world record attempt were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Francois insists that the “stars are aligned” for taking on the challenge.

“We have been thinking about this for the last five and a half years, with ups and downs and some road-blocks on the way. It takes a lot of trained staff to do something like this,” he said.

“Then the pandemic happened and the travel restrictions made it difficult for me to travel from Sweden to Scotland.

“Now the karma is good. The stars are aligned.”

Francois underlined the importance of it being a team effort in attempting to break the record.

He said: “I am just the jumper of the team, it is a collective sport. Without me there is no record, without the team I will do only one jump! It takes an amazing team over this very long effort.

“In 24 hours you only have 1,440 minutes, it might seem a lot but when you are under time pressure, every second we lose, if you multiply that by hundreds, you are losing time. Everyone’s role is so important.”

And Francois pointed to the significance of being able to face your fears.

“Like most people I don’t like pain and I don’t like fear but I like the idea of facing your fears and trying to overcome them,” he said.

“For one whole week after my first jump my body ached because I was so stressed but I realised, then, that this was good for me.”