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101-Year-Old Man Makes Parachute Jump

Posted on: Thursday, 17 June 2004, 06:00 CDT

CAIRNS, Australia - A 101-year-old man is believed to be the world's oldest skydiver after he accepted a dare from his friends and jumped out of an airplane Wednesday.

Frank Moody, from Holloways Beach on Australia's northeastern coast, beat the record set by a 94-year-old Norwegian in 1999, said Amanda Pilkington, from Skydive Cairns, which organized the jump.

Moody jumped in tandem with an experienced skydiver Wednesday morning from more than 3,000 meters (9,900 feet), she said.

"He's an absolute legend. It was a bit of a drunken dare by some of his mates at the local Holloways Beach football club. He said: "'Sure, I'll go jump out of an airplane,"' Pilkington quoted him as saying, adding she nearly fell off her chair when she first heard Moody wanted to try the Guiness record attempt.

"We decided to attempt to beat the record as well as giving Frank an awesome experience and one that he'll remember for the rest of his life. He's very switched on and very witty and charming. It's an absolute pleasure to have done this for him," she said.

Pilkington said the club would send footage of the jump and other details to the Guinness Book of Records head office in London and expects confirmation back within weeks.

Moody went down to the football club with his son John after the jump to have a Guinness beer to celebrate and collect on the dare from his mates.

"He's been given his footage and photographs so he's got proof and evidence that he's done it," Pilkington said.

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