In just 13 years, the height for the world record waterfall seems to have doubled, thanks largely to one 2.9-second plunge by Pedro Olivia on March 4, 2009, when the Brazilian ran 127-foot Santo Belo (Beautiful Falls), which is on an Amazonian tributary. While touring with the World Record Attempt Expedition in Brazil, Olivia ran the left-of-center line down Santo Belo. According to a stopwatch, Olivia fell for a full 2.9 seconds, and accelerated to 70 miles per hour. And no, he didn’t swim, but he did re-open the debate on WR waterfall descents.
In September 1996, Shaun Baker ran Iceland's 64-foot Aldeyjarfoss Falls, which Guinness certified as a world record. In August 1999, Tao Berman ran Alberta's Upper Johnston Falls, 98.4 feet, which Guinness also certified, but in a different category, Longest Waterfall in a Kayak, from Baker's. Was Tyler Bradt's 107-foot clean descent of the Yukon Territories' Alexandra Falls on September 7, 2007, the true world record? Maybe, until Paul Gamache slayed a 108-footer, Cascade Falls, in British Columbia, late last year.
The sure thing is: Giving "world-record" status to a waterfall has been hard to pin down.

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