"At the IHOP in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1991, I learned that I would finally be published in the Guinness Book of Records! It was late Friday afternoon. I was eating plain, buttermilk pancakes, drinking lots of coffee as usual, and sitting across from a University of Wisconsin law school classmate. My mother was visiting for the weekend, and I was waiting for her arrival. Now for the background: In 1989, in an attempt to set a World Record, I swam 45.45 miles in 24 hours, swimming laps throughout the night in the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) pool where I attended school and swam. I got the record, or so I thought. After contacting Guinness, I was told that someone in the United Kingdom had swum a couple miles further than me. The feat had occurred a year earlier, but had never been properly recorded. Thus, I was now second in the world, meaning, no publication, no record, no nothing. I talked to my contracts law professor at Wisconsin. He helped me construct an argument for my publication as the AMERICAN record holder. I wrote letters to the Guinness organization. And, I waited. Now – fast forward to IHOP. My mother came into the restaurant with a smile and a letter. The next Guinness Book would include AMERICAN records alongside World, and they were pleased to inform me of my inclusion in the next volume, 1992, the year of my law school graduation. I got the thrilling news at IHOP!"

Grand Prize Winner:    Scott Reader, Maple Shade, New Jersey

Runners-Up:    Kevin Bunch, Irvine, CA  |  Deborah Forrest, Ocean Springs, MS
Joshua Snow Hansen, Cedar City, UT  |  Carol Mahoney, Kearns, UT  |   Jill Oviatt, Ann Arbor, MI