Press Inquiries
Huntington Beach, California
October 6, 2019
International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Yuko Matsuzaki loved reading about the exploits of Guinness World Record holders in her youth. She dreamed of the day her own name would be included among these individuals.
The 56-year-old Japanese marathon swimmer from Tokyo set a new Guinness World Record for the Longest Continuous Swim in a Counter-current Pool when she swam for 24 hours 1 minute in an Endless Pools® Swim Spa set on the sands of Redondo Beach, California on October 6, 2019.
Matsuzaki swam in an Endless Pools® Fitness System E550, a 15-foot swim spa designed for serious swimmers seeking a fitness-focused swim spa. The model was set up at the 2019 WOWSA Ocean Fest in Redondo Beach, California.
Matsuzaki became the first Japanese swimmer inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2011. Her extensive resume includes five completions of the 88 km Hernandarias-Paraná Swimming Marathon in Argentina as well two solo records for swims in Lake Cane, Florida – one lasting nearly 30 hours, the other just over 33.
"Everyone at Team Endless Pools admires the passion and ambition of Yuko Matsuzaki," said Endless Pools General Manager, Darren Pearse. "We challenge ourselves every day to go beyond our existing achievements, to be better than we've been. For extending the world record of Dennis T. Seiler-Holm of Denmark (17 hours 7 minutes), we see Yuko truly as a kindred spirit."
"It was not easy swimming in place for an entire day including throughout the night when the temperatures dropped," said Steven Munatones, CEO of KAATSU Global. "Yuko has been an avid KAATSU user for many years. She warmed up with KAATSU Cycles, but her muscles really started to lock up around the 16th hour around midnight. We thought she might not be able to continue because she was in so much pain swimming in the same position. She tried everything from changing the water flow speed to swimming different strokes. Finally, we settled on doing KAATSU Cycles at her midnight break."
Olympic swim coach Chris Morgan came up with the idea. “During her allotted 5-minute recovery break at midnight, I put the KAATSU Air Bands on her upper arms and we just conducted ‘KAATSU Recovery Cycles’ her for 4 minutes. It was miraculous. She was grimacing and swimming slowly before midnight. Then, the KAATSU Cycles flushed out a good amount of lactate from her arms and she was a new swimmer afterwards. She went from wanting to quit, to wanting to set a record of 24 hours. After that point, she just forged on. Her recovery was so good to see and the reason she was able to set the record.”
Munatones added, “It was the first time that we had used KAATSU equipment for recovery during an actual Guinness World Record attempt. Chris suggested the idea when Yuko was the most fatigued and frustrated. We had the KAATSU equipment right there near the pool. When Chris asked Yuko if it would be OK to try KAATSU Cycle 2.0 unit, she gave him an immediate thumbs up. The KAATSU Cycles helped flush metabolic waste from her muscles, and transformed her from being only a few minutes from quitting to swimming another 7 hours to smash the old record.”
Established in 1988, Endless Pools has served tens of thousands of satisfied pool owners in more than 100 countries. Best known for their adjustable current for swimming in place, the Endless Pools product line features residential and commercial models for recreation, athletic training, family fun, physical therapy, and more. Endless Pools is part of Watkins Manufacturing Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fortune 500 company, Masco Corporation (MAS). For more information, visit www.endlesspool.com.
KAATSU Global is a Southern California-based health tech company that has transformed how athletes, military personnel and Baby Boomers can utilize their body's own biochemical processes to improve their performance levels, accelerate healing, and reduce pain. KAATSU Global pioneered the Blood Flow Restriction market and continues to be the world's leading BFR company with a line of patented BFR equipment and proprietary protocols for the military, competitive athletes (collegiate, Olympic, professional), hospitals, physical therapy clinics, as well as for consumers to use at their homes, offices and during travel. KAATSU is safely used by people from every walk of life in 49 countries, of every age and ability (up to 104 years old), anywhere and anytime, for recovery, rehabilitation, and performance. www.kaatsu.com
