Five metre rope climb set Guinness World Record 2011 by Marcus Bottay

He is Sydney's Bear Grylls, a former advertising guru who beat special forces officers at their own game. Bondi local Marcus Bottay, 44, recently broke the Guinness World Record for the five metre rope climb - an extreme body weight strength test measured by how many times you can climb up and down a five metre cord using only your hands.


In September, the personal trainer climbed 27.8 metres in 60 seconds, smashing the previous record of 19.2 metres.

"I was absolutely ecstatic because it's considered an elite world record," he said. "The only people who are capable of going for it are Oympians, gymnasts, acrobats and special forces units and people at that level."

The dad of two trains for two hours, three times a week, to stay in shape.

"Rope climbing is one of those sports where your finger tips have to be as strong as your forearms," Mr Bottay said.

"My daughters Jasmine and Willow helped me train for the world record. They would hop on my shoulders as I did thousands of chin ups, push ups and sit ups."