By Lilja Flohr
This March in Stellenbosch, Casper Steenkamp and Kempen Claassens successfully attempted a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive tennis doubles matches ever played, aiming to play 50 hours and trying to get 50 matches played. The initiative is closely connected to Stellenbosch, Claassens is a Stellenbosch University (SU) alumnus and Steenkamp was a high school student at Paul Roos Gymnasium. The event brought together players, volunteers and community members from across the town.
Steenkamp explained the motivation behind the world record attempt. For them, they “are positioned to worship God, number one. Number two is to raise funds for global missions and to support the ministry into the new season”. But, as Steenkamp highlighted, they are not new to this, as this was their “fourth world record attempt in the last three years”. Back in 2023, they already “did get a world record for the most consecutive doubles matches of 35”, and their experience helped as it took them “a little bit quicker to plan”, with “only about three months notice” this time.
As their last record was 35 matches, Die Matie was wondering why they pushed the record to 50 hours. Steenkamp explained, “Most of the decisions we make are just obedience”, and “when we prayed about it, we felt the Lord said do 50 consecutive doubles matches back to back”, even though it was “quite a big stretch from the previous record”.
He added how “the Guinness World Book of Records states that if you’re attempting 50 matches, it has to be 50 different doubles teams”, and that “just to get 100 people to play for any event for tennis is a miracle in itself”. They had to plan very carefully because “if the chain of the record breaks, then the record is done”.
For the two of them, “it’s so important to involve the community” as well as having “a strong admin team off the court so [they] could focus on tennis”. They hired professional referees, had witnesses sign forms, and organised ball boys to help pick up the balls.
Several participants and volunteers were students or residents from the SU community. Through a friend, Connor Leech (second-year BCom (Mathematical Sciences)), Azhar Mohamed (first-year BCom (Management Sciences)) and Joshua C. Petersen (second-year BEng (Industrial Engineering)), were able to join the challenge as opponents.
Petersen explained they, “had to play a doubles match so it was first to two sets or best out of three.” Mohamed added that “between each game, [they] only had 25 seconds”. Leech “played at 01:00 and the game was about 40 minutes”, as Steenkamp and Claassens “were playing one game every hour”.
Despite the challenge going all night, “there were always people in and out supporting – not necessarily playing, but spectating,” as Petersen remembers. Leech adds that “everyone was super nice”, and that especially “the vibe and chatting to everyone on the side of the court” made the experience memorable. Steenkamp remembers how “spectators came and encouraged [them]”, which was especially important when they “had been playing for close to 36 hours” and their “feet and legs were hurting”. While, as he said, “you can replenish food and drink while you play, you cannot replenish sleep.” Another challenge “was a five- or six-hour patch where [they] had to play on wet tennis courts” and “were soaking wet”.
Petersen’s highlight was “their energy levels and them still chasing after the ball and encouraging one another, even though it was three o’clock in the morning, quite cold and they’d been playing for 40 hours”. Overall, as he says, the “environment was just very positive and upholding”. Mohamed agreed, stating how all of them “brought up […] a whole bunch of vibes, even though it was very early in the morning”. He is sure that it is “something like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, and Leech added that “being able to tell people that [he] was part of beating a Guinness World Record is nutty”. Steenkamp’s personal highlight was when they “were actually on game 36, because the previous record was 35” and “realising [they] just broke [their] previous record” and the challenge “felt possible at that moment”.
The two are now waiting for official feedback from Guinness to approve it. As Steenkamp explains, “it is not an official record yet”, as they still “have to submit all the paperwork and video footage”. But they are also already on their new project, for which they “are climbing Everest”. They have already “done the highest mountain in Africa, Europe [and] South America,” and are now onto the next, motivated by their wish “to worship God and to raise funds for global missions”.
