The youngest is 50. The oldest is 77. And they're taking a shot at a weightlfting record

MAGIC ISLAND (HawaiiNewsNow) - A dozen women spent 60 minutes Monday morning working up a sweat at Magic Island.

They were trying to set a new Guinness World Record for the most weight hoisted in an hour by a kettlebell team.

The old record was set last September by a team in England.

"They have to beat the present world record of 43,800 pounds," coach John Sarich said.

Sarich's squad is made up of women who range in age from 50 to 77. They're all athletic. Some are marathon runners, some compete in triathlons.

"I tried to give them a goal, something to work hard for," Sarich said.

Wearing red t-shirts printed with the name "Johnny's Fit Ohana" the women took turns lifting, squatting and swinging iron kettlebells. The lightest weighed 15 pounds. The heaviest was 35 pounds.

They practiced a year for a run at the record.

"That was part of our training, to be able to take the pain for an hour," team member Denby Fawcett said.

A kettlebell is a cast iron weight that's shaped like a small ball with a handle.

The teammates switched off every 30 seconds.

"We have to make sure that we do each swing correctly or else it doesn't count. We have to have it in between our legs in the back and up above our shoulders in the front," team member Lori McCarney said.

To ensure  the record attempt is authentic, the kettlebells were weighed and certified. Two cameras recorded the event. Two judges and two assistants watched and counted the swings in front of a large digital countdown clock.

"I know that they got it because most of the swings were good," judge Ed Sherako said

"We've done it already in our practice. We did 61,000 pounds on Friday. We're pretty confident we'll be OK," Fawcett said.

Guinness officials will review the tapes, judge each swing and compute the official weight. It could take weeks to know the final result.

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