Ref. 31133-64 Leigh Watts, Kaz Glastonbury and Ashlee John try speed texting TEXT messaging may be an obsessive pastime among some Swindon teenagers, but that doesn't mean they are nifty at it.

After a Brit lost his title as world's fastest texter to Singaporean student Kimberly Yeo, the Advertiser stepped in to give Swindon students the chance to reclaim the record.

But their thumbs just weren't up to it, and the results were less than impressive.

Nimble-thumbed media student Kimberly had typed out a 160-character test message in just 43.24 seconds.

The fastest of our six volunteers took a full three minutes to complete the challenge.

Kimberly was one of 125 contestants taking part in a competition arranged by mobile company Singapore Telecommunications this week.

Her record is subject to verification by Guinness World Records, but a spokeswoman indicated the record would stand.

The message that Kimberly and our volunteers tapped into their phones was: "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human."

In completing the challenge, contestants had to copy the message exactly, including punctuation and capitals. Using the predictive text capability to speed things up was prohibited.

My attempt, at two minutes and 12 seconds, was slightly better than Swindon's students.

But then I had the advantage of having read the test message several times during the day, as well as watching the others' weak attempts to beat the record.

Now Kimberly has done this message in 43 seconds her thumbs should now be appropriated by the global community and put to more socially constructive uses than discussing freshwater fish.

Andy Tate