UWA tennis aiming at Guinness World Record By Staff Reports Published 4:12pm Wednesday, November 6, 2013
To help raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the University of West Alabama’s tennis team is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the longest tennis doubles marathon.
Adam Drysdale, Manuel Grossman, Kike Ruiz and Anton Ivanov with take the court at 7 a.m. on November 15 at the Vaughn Tennis Complex on the UWA campus to attempt to eclipse the current record of 56 hours, 37 minutes and 13 seconds.
Australians Gavin White, Jeganathan Ramasamy, Simon Burk and David Sears set the record at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Sydney, Australia from September 10-12, 2010. The group played 22 consecutive best-of-five matches, consisting of 78 sets and 709 games.
The West Alabama team is attempting to raise $1 million for Cystic Fibrosis, with the main focus being UWA student Libby Hankins, who has CF.
Hankins was born with Cystic Fibrosis, but not diagnosed until she was two years old. From Gordo, Ala., Hankins is a UWA cheerleader and was recently crowned homecoming queen.
“I was fortunate that my family made my health a priority, but at the same time, they made sure I lived as normal life as possible,” Hankins said. “There were always pills, IVs, Chest PT, surgeries and hospitalizations, but there were always friends, school, laughter and love.”
According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website, cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.
Donations can be sent by mail to UWA tennis team member Dasha Popova at University of West Alabama, P.O. Box 4319, Livingston, AL 35470 or via PayPal via email heyitsdasha@yahoo.com, Subject: UWA Tennis GWR. Donations can also be made directly to any member of the UWA tennis team.
To support the event, please visit facebook.com/uwatennisworldrecord1.
For additional information, contact Drysdale at drysdalea@uwa.edu or UWA tennis coach Glen Fanelli at (205) 609-7393.
From www.demopolistimes.com
