David Rush teams up with son for record-breaking throw and catch of fragile water balloon
David “Record Breaker” Rush (USA) has teamed up with his 10-year-old son Jeremy to make a splash with their latest Guinness World Records title.
On 3 June, the father and son duo achieved the farthest distance to throw and catch a water balloon, with a distance of 43 metres (141.07 ft) – almost the length of an Olympic swimming pool!
So, how did this father-and-son duo throw themselves into the record books? We caught up with them to find out more.
Jeremy often practises with his dad as they work to develop their skills. David told us: “It is a tonne of fun to go out and practise with my son. It can be practising for baseball, football, soccer, pickleball or breaking a world record.
“We’re always trying to challenge ourselves and improve. We practised at home with different amounts of water, different balloons and different distances at first. We couldn’t even get the throw close to the current record distance.”
Jeremy said he was happy to achieve a Guinness World Records title and felt a real sense of accomplishment. With surpassing over 200 titles in his career, David said that although he doesn’t think Jeremy has caught the record-breaking bug quite as strongly as he has, his son’s commitment to practising different sports and games is an important part of becoming a record breaker.
With David’s records ranging from most glasses balanced on a stick held in the mouth to farthest distance trekked balancing a bike on chin, what made the pair choose the water-balloon record for their attempt?
Because Jeremy regularly practised his catching skills for football and baseball, David thought he might be able to catch a water balloon just as well as a ball.
David said: “We realized if I could get the water balloon far enough, there’s a decent chance he’s going to be brave enough to catch it. In practice, he had a bunch of them hit him, and either pop or bounce off, and he even got a few red welts. I asked him if he wanted to stop, and he said no. He was determined to get it.”
As with any record attempt, David and Jeremy encountered their fair share of challenges. The first came when the balloons began shredding as they were thrown at speed.
David added: “It becomes difficult, as you can’t throw the balloon like a baseball because of the inertia and the flexibility of the water balloon results in all of the water staying behind around the hand while the hand moves forward with just a thin band of elastic, resulting in a shredded balloon or one that doesn’t have enough forward momentum.”
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Through all the practice sessions, many of the balloons had snapped or broken, and some even popped during the official attempts.
David experimented with different throwing techniques before discovering that he needed to use more of a catapult motion, swinging the balloon over his head, rather than throwing it like a baseball.
This technique helped him get the water moving in the same direction as the balloon, giving it more forward momentum.
After hours of practice, the closer the pair got to a successful catch, the more the excitement began to build! David said: “First, I was able to get the balloon far enough, and then he was able to get his hands on a few of them without them popping. It was just a matter of trying to secure the catch.
“We finally got it in practice, and then we set up for the official attempt in front of an audience of dozens, and we knew that we were going to be able to get it.
“It was just a matter of which throw would result in the final catch. When we were finally successful, it was super exciting but also nerve-wracking because we knew we needed to follow the official rules.
“Jeremy wasn’t allowed to move after the catch until the place was marked, and then we had to do all the official evidence gathering before we could really celebrate.”
For David, he loves that his children are now involved with record breaking, as it is something that has been a part of his own life for a while. He said: “My kids are starting to believe that if you set your mind to believe in yourself and pursue it with passion, then you can accomplish virtually anything.
“I love that they do it in many aspects of their life and have also started breaking Guinness World Records titles. Each of my boys now has multiple world records, and my three-year-old girl isn’t that far behind.”
On 19 July 2025, David and Jeremy also broke the title for fastest time to make a sandwich by a team of two (blindfolded/no hands) with a time of 36.50 seconds.
For David, record breaking isn’t just a one-time feat; it’s a way of life. Now that his children are joining in, we can’t wait to see what the Rush family gets up to next!