Hundreds of Winnipeg skaters form giant chain in Guinness attempt

Talk about precision skating — exactly 1,438 people lined up single file on Winnipeg's Assiniboine River on Monday in an effort to set a Guinness World Record.

As hundreds of spectators cheered them on, the human chain — which stretched out for more than a kilometre — shuffled along the ice for three minutes, each participant clutching the shoulders or waist of the person in front of them.

If the Winnipeg effort is sanctioned by Guinness, it will handily beat the current record, which is held by a group of 102 people in Britain who were, strangely enough, dressed up in Santa Claus outfits.

Dean Koshelanyk said he was inspired to organize the event after reading on the internet about another attempt at the record last month, in which a group of 225 children skated around in a conga line on an artificial rink in Mexico City's main plaza.

He became determined to show "everyone in the world" that Winnipeg is the capital of winter.

Jason Balodis, who came dressed in a Team Canada hockey jersey, agreed that Mexico doesn't deserve to claim the title.

"How can they have the record if they don't even have snow?" he asked.

Winnipeg has already taken the title of Canada's longest skating trail, having bested Ottawa's 7.8-kilometre Rideau Canal with an 8.54-kilometre stretch that spans the Assiniboine and Red rivers.