Getty Image / Stefan Sauer/picture alliance/iStockphoto/FooTToo
Two people jumping onto a Water Blob water trampoline aka 'The Blob'
Ever since the movie Heavyweights starring Ben Stiller came out in 1995, Millennials and Gen-X alike have been in love with ‘The Blob.’ Our shared cultural appreciation of The Blob has thankfully filtered down throughout the generations and has since reached Gen Z and Gen Alpha due in large part to summer camps still having Blobs in their lakes.
This Summer, a new Blob world record was set. What exactly is a ‘Blob world record‘ one might wonder? It is the highest launch in the illustrious history of The Blob with Robin Steiner being sent flying so high in the sky he practically touched the sun. Icarus would be seething with jealousy at this new Blob world record.
Blob World Record: The Highest Someone Has Been Launched In The Air From ‘The Blob’
Just how excited are people about this new world record? Clips of the feat that were posted by @flips_by_robin have been viewed nearly 35 MILLION times on Instagram. One clip in particular has been viewed 21.8 million times in the past three days along. Truly incredible numbers.
Here is the YouTube Shorts version of that clip, simply because the UX is slightly better for video embedded here on the website.
At 92.5 feet high (28.2 meters), that is officially the highest Blob launch ever recorded and measured. But you know there is more than one angle of this record. They aren’t going to go through all of this and just release one clip.
This world record feat took place in Brunnen, Switzerland. In total, he spent over 5 seconds flying through the air and went as high as a 9-story building is tall. The previous Blob world record was just 72 feet (22 meters) and set back in 2012. How that world record has stood pat for 14 long years is beyond me.
The second clip is from the point of view of the three people doing the Blob launch, tethered together. Then the perspective quickly shifts to Robin Steiner who set the Blob world record. Check it out:
What would you even classify this as? Is a ‘Blob Launch’ a water sport in your opinion? It certainly feels like more than an activity but in all of my years on the planet I have yet to see a Blob competition of people vying for the highest launch head-to-head. That is not to say such a competition does not exist, I just have yet to come across it.
For those who have never had the fortune of launching someone off the Blob or being launched, I am sorry. The summer camp I worked at in college had one and it was honestly the only reason I enjoyed working there. The pay was garbage, food was sub par, but the Blob… It was glorious.