At a Christmas family gathering in December last year, Dwan Young’s family surprised her with the Guinness World Record certificate, officially naming her as the record holder.

Young, who lives in Utah, USA, has been skiing for more than 60 years, trying her hand at the sport when she was 29 years old. Since then, she along with her family have been skiing at the family cabin at Bear Lake.

Speaking with KSL TV, Young said her granddaughter Becca contacted the Guinness World Records to see if her grandmother was eligible for the title. Then, at Christmas, the family presented her with the award.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said.

While Young has been skiing for years, she said it was her family that helped her transition from skiing on two skis to the slalom, which is no easy feat for anyone, let alone a 92-year-old.

“My kids kept saying, ‘Grandma, bend your knees! Keep your arms straight and let the boat pull you out!’” Young said.

“Now, at my age, I’m getting out of the water on two and just dropping one.”

Water skiing isn’t the only sport Young plays, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

“Actually, I’m still playing tennis twice a week, and I’m doing water aerobics in the winter,” she said.

While her grandkids want their grandmother to give surfing a go, Young is happy to stick with what she knows.

‘What an honour.’

Since 1961, Dwan Young, who is originally from Salt Lake City, has been water skiing. But she admitted to Guinness World Records last month that she still gets nervous before a ski.

“I always get butterflies before I get in the water,” Young said. “In the water, I feel excited.”

Young was thrilled to receive the record certificate from her family, which was totally unexpected for the 92-year-old.

“I could not believe it. I still can’t believe it,” Young said. “What a surprise and what an honour.”

These days, Young only skis in Bear Lake, where the family summer cabin is. But she told Guinness World Records that if she could ski anywhere in the world, Lake Geneva in Switzerland is her dream spot.

For anyone wanting to have a go at something new, Young said your age should not matter.

“Do not be afraid to try a new sport when you are older,” she said.

“You are more capable than you think.”

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According to a statement released by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Tanaka passed away on the 19th April, making her the second oldest verified person in history, having lived 119 years and 107 days. 

Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, the same year as George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh, Aaron Siskind and Bing Crosby. 

In January 2019, Guinness World Records confirmed Tanaka as the oldest living person at the age of 116 years and 28 days.

On Monday, the group tweeted their sadness at hearing the news of Tanaka’s passing, adding that her death has been confirmed by Robert Young, the senior gerontology consultant who assisted in confirming Tanaka’s record as the oldest person alive three years ago. 

Earlier this month, Tanaka’s family tweeted news about the supercentenarian, saying she had been struggling with sickness and “in and out of hospital.”

Tanaka was born in the village of Wajiro on January 2nd, 1903 — a seaside town on the southern island of Kyushu, Japan. She was the seventh child of nine siblings.

At 19, she married her cousin, Hideo Tanaka, and the pair went on to have four children, as well as adopt Kane’s niece.

For many decades, the couple ran a foods store together, selling noodles and traditional Japanese desserts.

Tanaka survived cancer more than once — at 45, she underwent pancreatic cancer surgery. At 103, she had colorectal cancer surgery. She witnessed two world wars, the 1918 Spanish flu, and the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Tanaka was set to participate in the Olympic torch relay at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, though pulled out due to health concerns. 

Since 2018, Tanaka had been living in a nursing home in Fukuoka, where she apparently spent her time doing maths activities and practising calligraphy. 

In January 2020, Tanaka’s great-granddaughter, Junko Tanaka set up a Twitter account to chart the supercentenarian’s extraordinary life.

She tweeted photos of Tanaka’s favourite treats, such as chocolate and Coke. 

In January, Junko said of her great-grandmother: “I might be biased because I’m related to her but I think it’s kind of amazing — I wanted to share that with the world and for people to feel inspired and to feel her joy.”

Japan has the most elderly population in the world, with one in every 1,565 people over 100 years old and 88 per cent of them being women. 

Government data from 2020 showed that women have a life expectancy of 87.45 years and 81.4 for men.

The country is also identified as one of the five ‘Blue Zones’ — regions of the world that are believed to have a higher than usual number of people who live much longer than average.

The term was coined by scholar Gianni Pes and demographer Michel Poulain, and the zones include Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Icaria in Greece and Loma Linda in California. 

The title of oldest-ever living person remains with Jeanne Calment, who lived to the age of 122  and 164 days, and who died in August 1997. 

With Tanaka’s passing, the world’s oldest person now is Lucile Randon, at 118-year-old. 

The post The world’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka dies aged 119 appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Dixon and Marsden, both in their mid-fifties, set out on their tandem bike at the end of June last year and rode around 25 different countries across five continents, including France, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the US.

Their world-wide route stretched over a total of 29,391 kilometres, which took them a total of 263 days. The duo riders arrived back in the UK in mid-March this year, breaking the world record and making it into the upcoming Guinness World Records 2021 Edition.

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Today Guinness World Records have announced that Cat & I are the fastest to circumnavigate the globe on a tandem! 263 days 8 hours and 7 minutes. Beating the men’s record by 17 days! #tandem-club #stolengoat #cyclingweekly #biketouring #cyclingphotos #womenonbikes #strava #rideyourbike #bikestagram #photooftheday #followmychallenge #discoverginger #nevernotriding #orbittandems #cycleheaven #nevernotriding #GWR #schwalbe #activeroot #A #jdtandems #cycleUK #mndassociation #oxfam #orbit-tandems #womenonwheels #biketouring #procycling #cyclinguk #goat powered #casquettecc

A post shared by TandemWoW (@tandemwow) on Jul 28, 2020 at 11:33pm PDT

“We have highlights from every country that we visited and would definitely return to see many- although maybe at a slower pace,”Dixon and Marsden told the BBC. 

“We really enjoyed Europe and would like to see more, Myanmar was beautiful… we only spent a short time in Morocco but we would definitely return to cycle in the mountains. Each country was different and we were privileged to meet some amazing and incredibly supportive people on route… the kindness of strangers was amazing all over the world.”

Their 263-day journey was not without its challenges. They faced extreme weather and dangerous heat-waves. They cycled through Australia as our horrifying bushfires were raging, detouring through an inland route where temperatures soared to 50 degrees.

“This was an area of drought where it hadn’t rained since 2016,” they said. “We also had a day where we rode through smoke- making us cough and our eyes water.”

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Thailand! #tandem-club #stolengoat #cyclingweekly #biketouring #cyclingphotos #womenonbikes #strava #rideyourbike #bikestagram #photooftheday #followmychallenge #discoverginger #nevernotriding #orbittandems #cycleheaven #nevernotriding #GWR #schwalbe #activeroot #A #jdtandems #cycleUK #mndassociation #oxfam #orbit-tandems #womenonwheels #biketouring #procycling #cyclinguk #goat powered #casquettecc

A post shared by TandemWoW (@tandemwow) on May 27, 2020 at 1:35am PDT

Towards the end of their record-setting expedition, borders and countries were beginning to go into lockdown as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. In fact, their final stretch of the trip — through France to the UK, took place on the day the travel ban was implemented in the UK.

The pair clocked an average of between 128 to 161 kilometres per day (that’s roughly the distance between Sydney to Newcastle) keeping themselves occupied cerebrally by listening to music and audiobooks.

All the while, they stayed positive by keeping each other motivated. “We just got on with it and loved it all. It was important to keep laughing- and we did.” 

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Cat in Donostia-San Sebastian. #tandemclub #stolengoat #cyclingweekly #biketouring #cyclingphotos #womenonbikes #strava #rideyourbike #bikestagram #photooftheday #followmychallenge #discoverginger #nevernotriding #orbittandems #cycleheaven #nevernotriding #GWR #schwalbe #activeroot #A #jdtandems #cycleUK #mndassociation #oxfam #orbit-tandems #womenonwheels #biketouring #procycling #cyclinguk #goat powered #casquettecc

A post shared by TandemWoW (@tandemwow) on Mar 25, 2020 at 1:17am PDT

The pair met in 2016 at a charity cycle from London to Paris stayed in touch, often training together. When they decided to cycle around the world together, they thought doing it on a tandem would be a good idea. The pair raised over $72,300 for charities in the UK including the Motor Neuron Disease Association and Oxfam.

Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, told BBC, “Their high-spirited story of determination, ambition and friendship has been a tonic in these troubled times, and I’m sure these two remarkable women will be an inspiration to anyone looking to expand their horizons and discover their world.”

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