Irish man breaks world’s fastest sheep shearing record

A man from Co. Donegal has beaten the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to shear a sheep.

Ivan Scott, 33, from Kilmacrennan near Letterkenny in Co Donegal, broke the record by shearing a sheep in 37.9 seconds. The previous record of 39.31 seconds was set in Australia in 2010.

The Journal.ie reports that Scott is an eight-time All-Ireland Sheep Shearing Champion, and in New Zealand in 2012, he took the record for the number of sheep sheared in eight hours, shearing 744 lambs.

Scott’s most recent effort, which was shown live on RTÉ’s Big Week on the Farm, was overseen by Glenn Pollard, a Guinness World Record adjudicator, and Tom Dunne, chair of the Irish Sheep Shearing Association, who made sure the sheep was sheared to World Shearing Committee standards and that there were no nicks or cuts made to the sheep.

Pollard said it was “a privilege to watch” Scott in action.

“He is clearly a very skilled practitioner and well worth his brand new Guinness World Records title,” he said.

To make the world record, the sheep must be at least 18-months-old and three kilograms of wool must be sheared. Ivan sheared 3.92 kilos of wool in the 37.9 seconds.