David Rush teams up with daughter after she asks: "Daddy, can I have a world record?"

Teaming up with her record-breaking daddy, little Felicity Rush (USA) has become the last member of her family to be declared Officially Amazing!

Her father, serial record breaker David Rush says his heart melted when his then-three-year-old baby girl turned to him and said: "Daddy, can I have a world record, please?"

After lots of practice and hard work, together they broke the record for most times to throw and go through a backspinning hula hoop in 30 seconds (team of two) with a total of nine.

David was the thrower and Felicity, now four, was the runner when they took on the challenge at their home in Boise, Idaho on 29 August.

David said of his daughter’s request: “It felt absolutely amazing. I wanted to give her the world right then, but that’s not how Guinness World Records titles work, you can't just hand one over. You have to put in the work and earn it.

“Watching her take on that challenge and succeed together as father and daughter was amazing because I've dedicated much of the last decade to pushing them and having her join me was amazing.”

David has always taught his kids that a positive mindset and never giving up means they can achieve anything they put their minds to.

And he’s convinced that she’s caught the record-breaking bug that’s seen him break hundreds of records so far.

He said: “She’s grown up around this mindset and has practised for so many different attempts with me over the years, from bouncing pencils, blowing playing cards, popping balloons with boxing gloves, catching balls on velcro, flipping cups, stacking toilet paper, arranging a chess set with the mouth, balloon keepy-uppy, and more - often with a stopwatch to simulate the attempt.

“Seeing her genuinely ask to try, stay curious, and jump into practice (which was really just play) makes me smile with joy.”

After Felicity made her adorable request, David set about researching records to find the perfect one for her to attempt.

He explained: “I was looking for something scaled to her size and developmental stage where she could genuinely contribute and succeed through effort. Running through a back-spinning hula hoop was the perfect fit: the hoop was the right scale for her height, the running distance was manageable, and it turned what could have been an intimidating physical challenge into a fun, active game.

“After the first few times of practising, though, I thought it was just going to be a fun activity together since she really wasn't close to breaking the record. But she kept asking to ‘do a world record’ and after several sessions I started to realize she might actually be able to break this record.”

It took David and Felicity a while to perfect their technique.

He had to time his throw and she had to time her run exactly right to land each pass correctly.

Felicity was hit on the arm or the back of the ankle by the hoop a few times, but she didn’t give up.

Together, they did hundreds of practice runs over several weeks until finally, they nailed it.

David said: “When she first started, she struggled with the timing and coordination, but she practised consistently and kept improving day after day until I realized she truly had the timing, speed, and consistency to beat the existing mark.

Read about more fun records like this in our Hobbies and Skills section.

“On the official record day, with the cameras rolling, timers ready, and witnesses watching, we made multiple attempts where it just didn't come together, and she finally said, ‘Daddy, I'm done.’ We immediately stopped to respect her limits because I wanted this experience to be more about the fun together than the pressure to break a record.

“About 10 minutes later, she turned to me and said, ‘Hey, I want to try again!’ We jumped right back in, and that’s when we nailed the record run.”

As well as practising his throw with a backspin, David said they employed various techniques to claim the record.

They switched from a hard floor to carpet to get the ideal surface friction, placed tape on the floor so Felicity knew the exact spot to make her passes through the hoop, and also placed a couch cushion at either side of the hoop so Felicity could brake safely and pivot back the other way without losing any time.

“We had a blast, and that was the foundational rule from day one,” David said. “Breaking a record is great, but the real goal was spending quality time together and having fun as a family.

“Any time she said, ‘I'm done’, we stopped on the spot, no pressure, no frustration, just celebrating the fun we had. And whenever she came back and said, ‘Hey, I want to break a world record’, we went right back at it. It was more play than anything else and fun to see the progress.”

During their official attempt, Felicity actually passed through the hoop 10 times, but one was discounted due to one of the passes falling a couple of inches short of the required distance.

But that didn’t matter, nine was still enough for this father-daughter duo to claim the record together.

This new record comes not long after David and his son Jeremy broke the record for farthest distance to throw and catch a water balloon with a distance of 43 m (141.07 ft).