Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) -- An American hit the Guinness Book of Records as the world's top stone skimmer after throwing a stone that skipped on water 51 times.

It was last July 19 when Russell Byars, 43, from Pennsylvania, shattered the previous world record of 40 skims.

Known as Rock Bottom in the stone skimming world, Byars smashed the record at French Creek on the Allegheny River, near Pittsburgh.

But before his new record of 51 skims could be made official, experts from the Guinness Book of Records had to analyse film replays of Byars' toss, painstakingly checking the concentric circles in the water made by each skip to determine its authenticity.

"I actually threw 40 stones that day, but that was the first skip that I threw," Byars told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The old record of 40 skims, set in 2002 at the Pennsylvania Qualifying Stone Skipping Tournament, was previously held by Kurt "Mountain Man" Steiner, 42, of Emporium.

When asked to comment on the new record, Steiner simply likened his rival's feat to breaking the four-minute mile.

"It was only a matter of time," said Steiner.

Albeit Byars, who stands 6ft 2in tall and weighs about 18 stone, can for the meantime boast to be the undisputed greatest skipper of stones on water to ever grace the planet.

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