Teenager sets new world record for caber tossing

Andrew Murphie broke the record in Grantown-on-Spey

A teenager from the Highlands has set a new world record for tossing the caber.

Andrew Murphie, 18, from Grantown-on-Spey, managed to toss 26 cabers in three minutes - smashing the previous record of 16, which was set in Canada.

Each caber was more than 5m (16ft) long and weighed more than 40kg (88lbs), and they had to be flipped over end to end.

Andrew, a Scottish under-18 Highland Games champion, spent two years training for the Guinness World Record.

Andrew said: "I was expecting to break it but not by as much.

"I just focused on the next caber."

Andrew, who took up Highland Games six years ago, said the regular training over the last two years had been relentless.

He said: "We used heavier and longer cabers. It was just throwing a log up and down a field for as long as I could."

Coach Dave Garman said a caber - a long timber pole - had to be thrown half its length up into the air in order for it to topple over and qualify as a toss.

In Andrew's case 5.5m-long (16.6ft) cabers had to go at least 2.4m (8ft) into the air.

Mr Garman said: "It's not about strength, it's not about how big you are, how tough you are - it's about finesse.

"Understanding the balance. Understanding when to pull your head back and let the caber go up."

He added that it was "monumental" the record had been brought back to the homeland of Highland Games.

Highland Games coach Dave Garman said tossing a caber was more than a test of strength

Highland Games president Charlie Murray said tossing the caber was a sport steeped in myth

Royal Highland Games Association president Charlie Murray officiated at the world record attempt in Grantown-of-Spey.

He said: "This is a considerable achievement considering Andrew is 18."

Mr Murray said the history of caber tossing was steeped in myth.

Stories of the sport's origins include foresters throwing cut timber over rivers, and also cabers being used to help attackers scale castle walls.

Andrew, meanwhile, has set his sights on another record.

He hopes to break the most cabers flipped in an hour. The current record is 161.

"It is going to be more of a challenge. More like a marathon," he said.