I was lucky enough to spent quite a bit of time in the Netherlands and I constantly marveled at how they managed to engineer a nation with so much of the country below sea level. Many of their farmers needed a way to leap waterways to reach their various plots of land. Over time this evolved into a competitive sport, known as fierljeppen (“far leaping”) in which contestants sprint to the water, seize a 10-meter pole, and climb it as it lurches forward over the channel. The winner is the one who lands farthest from the starting point in the sand bed on the opposite side.

The current record holder is Jaco de Groot of Utrecht, who leapt, clambered, swayed, and fell 22.21 meters in 2017.