Southland shearer breaks world record 

A young Southland shearer has broken a world record, shearing an impressive 560 sheep in eight hours, breaking the record by 65 sheep.

That's one sheep every 50 seconds.

Thirty-year-old Jimmy Clark started at 7am on Wednesday, and for about eight hours in a shed in western Southland, all eyes were on Clark and the sheep.

He had spent the past 10 months getting ready for this attempt, following a strict diet and exercise regime.

"It's actually our marathon of the shearing industry&the boys that do this; it's as hard as doing an actual marathon itself," says Mark Baldwin, the referee.

Clark took a break after nearly shearing around 300 sheep, getting a back massage.

There were four referees at the marathon; one who came especially from Australia to make sure everything follows strict criteria.

Clark is no stranger to top shearing, having had success with other world record attempts in 2006 and 2007.

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