A record-setting public shower in Gurnee?
Soap suds, sponges, sun and a whole lot of strangers showering together.
It was a wet and wild time at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee on Thursday when more than 150 people lathered up in unison in an attempt to set two Guinness World Records at once: the largest shower and the most people showering simultaneously at a single venue.
It will be weeks before Guinness decides whether any records were set, but hopes are high this shower will be one for the books. The current record for largest shower, at just over 3,660 square feet, was set last year by Tommy Lee and Ludicrous on the TV show Battleground Earth. There is no current record for most people showering simultaneously.
"For me it was a life-defining moment - something to tell your kids and grandkids about," laughed 19 year-old Mark Long of Palatine. "I'll say, 'I helped set a Guinness World Record, what have you done lately?'"
Pert Plus presented the record-setting event at the Hurricane Harbor water park to celebrate the launch of its new Pert Plus for Men product line.
"We built quite a shower and we hope that these records will stand the test of time," said Pert Plus Spokesperson Karen Bailey.
A 4,000-square-foot custom shower structure was fitted with 40 spigots to accommodate 400 bathers. Construction, which began at 6 p.m. Wednesday was completed at 3:30 a.m., and the structure had all but vanished by 11 a.m.
"The setup was elaborate and it really was a crazy experience," Long said.
Participants were told to shampoo and lather themselves in order to meet the Guinness criteria for a shower. The swimsuit-clad crowd hollered and uttered a collective yelp as cool water rained down following the 9 a.m. countdown.
"It was fun except for when I was blinded by the soap," said 15 year-old Kate Cummins of South Elgin.
"It was a little awkward in there, but it was a pretty cool experience I certainly wasn't expecting," said 14 year-old Ryan Norton of Bartlett.
Gurnee Mayor Krysti Kovarik and Lake County Chamber of Commerce President B. Dwight Houchins served as official Guinness World Record witnesses.
"We are always excited by opportunities to showcase Six Flags and our community," Kovarik said. "Gurnee has a close partnership with Six Flags and to think that we might've broken a record here today is really something."