Schoolboy's record dream comes true after Liberty Barros inspires him to do splits

A young boy with big dreams was inspired by a record breaker to claim a Guinness World Records title of his own.

Chaz Wilson (South Africa) watched a video of super flexible Liberty Barros (UK) with his cousin Charlene Wolf and was inspired to see if he could do what she could.

At the time, Liberty held the record for most splits in one minute (female) with a total of 42 (Pakistan’s Fatima Naseem now holds it with 47) and Chaz was motivated there and then to try it.

His proud mum Ariena said: “He immediately felt inspired and confident that he could do the same. Right there on the spot, he tried it himself and impressively matched her total of 42 splits.”

In October 2025, after lots of training and practice, the then-11-year-old Chaz took to the stage at his school in front of his classmates to officially attempt the record.

With an amazing total of 47, he broke the record for most splits in one minute (male), beating the previous total of 46 set by Muhammad Tahir (Pakistan).

Ariena said: “After watching the video of Liberty Barros on YouTube, he was instantly motivated. He came to us with great excitement and determination, telling us that he wanted to attempt breaking the record himself. From that moment, it became a clear goal he was fully committed to achieving and setting the record.

“He was absolutely thrilled and overwhelmed with excitement. It took a moment for it to sink in, as he could hardly believe that he had actually achieved something so remarkable.”

Chaz, now 12 and in grade 7, has been doing acrobatic dance for the last year, which has helped with improving his flexibility, strength, and coordination.

He trained consistently for eight months to improve his speed, technique and endurance before tackling his attempt, proving that age is no barrier when you’re as determined as Chaz!

Read about more people with amazing skills like this in our Human Body section.

Ariena said of her son’s achievement: “I can hardly believe that it is finally a reality. I am incredibly proud that he pursued this ambitious dream and achieved it with such outstanding success.

“We’re all so proud of him and we’re glad that we’ve pulled through to make this work. He had a clear goal to set the record and achieved it.”

Chaz is keen to break more records, so it looks like we haven’t seen the last of him yet.