Swiss trampolinist Robin Steiner became the highest-launched human on an inflatable water "blob" on Aug. 9, sending himself 92.5 feet into the air above Lake Lucerne and obliterating a record that had stood since 2012.
The stunt, staged at Brunnen on the lake's southern shore, worked like a see-saw built for giants: three friends leapt in unison from a 46-foot scaffolding platform onto one end of the air-filled bag, catapulting Steiner off the other end. He stayed airborne for five seconds before splashing down, clearing the previous best of 72 feet by more than 20 feet — a margin organizers called the largest jump in the sport's short history, according to Unofficial Networks.
Blob jumping, a lakeside novelty popular at European summer camps and Alpine resorts, uses a giant tethered air cushion instead of a springboard; the jumper's height depends almost entirely on the combined weight and timing of the people launching them. Steiner, a world-champion trampolinist, spent weeks rehearsing the drop with his three-person launch crew before the attempt.
At 92.5 feet, Steiner's apex would have put him level with the roof of a nine-story building. Footage of the jump, posted to his Instagram account @flips_by_robin, had been viewed nearly 35 million times within days, per Barstool Sports.
"5 seconds of airtime. This is the closest you can get to skydiving without a parachute… Still in disbelief over yesterday's events, I can't thank all the people that came to support."
— Robin Steiner
The jump has revived interest in informal blob-launch contests across Switzerland and Scandinavia, which have circulated online for years without a governing body to formalize records. Unlike diving or gymnastics, blob jumping has no international federation or certified judging panel, so records like Steiner's are generally tracked informally by enthusiast communities and validated through video evidence and eyewitness accounts rather than a sanctioning body. Steiner has not said whether he plans an even higher attempt, but organizers of the Brunnen event say they intend to make it an annual fixture on the lake, with several rival jumpers already expressing interest in challenging the new mark next summer.
