Roose crosses Strait on rope but fails record

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 10 - Three-time world champion slackliner Jaan Roose of Eestonia on Wednesday nearly broke another world record by walking across the Messina Strait on a slackline tightrope, but unfortunately fell shortly before the end of his epic crossing and so the record could not be ratified.
    The Red Bull athlete had set off from the Santa Trada Pier in Villa San Giovanni on the Calabrian side of the strait, harnessed at a height of 250 metres, on his way to a feat never attempted before: the Messina Crossing, i.e. crossing the 3,600 metres of the Straits of Messina on a 1.9 centimetre wide ribbon of rope.
    Roose, who received a slushy 'grantita', a Sicilian speciality, upon his arrival, said he was "very happy with the feat".
    However, his exploit cannot be registered in the Guinness World Records book because he fell about 80 metres from the finishing line, before getting back on the slackline and finishing the crossing, Even though the previous record was just 800 metres, Roose's mammoth 3,600 metre mark cannot thus be ratified as the rules say a crossing must be error-free. (ANSA).