MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� Joseph McGrail-Bateup, an Australian professional air conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier, has been recognized as the world鈥檚 loudest person.
last week acknowledged the 58-year-old Canberra resident recorded the loudest ever shout by an individual. He yelled 鈥渘ow鈥� at 122.4 decibels.
That broke the previous record of 121.7 dB set by Northern Ireland schoolteacher Annalisa Flanagan in 1994. She had yelled an ear-piercing 鈥渜uiet.鈥�
That is in the noise range of a chain saw, a jet aircraft taking off and an ambulance siren at close range.
The record attempt was not something McGrail-Bateup could train for, he said Tuesday.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way that you can actually practice for it. You have to just keep it for the day, especially with the world record attempt,鈥� McGrail-Bateup said.
鈥淚t took me seven attempts just for one word, which was the word 鈥榥ow,鈥� and my voice was shot for the next couple of days as well. It was husky. It was terrible. So no, you can鈥檛 really practice for it. But it鈥檚 a lot of fun when you鈥檙e doing it,鈥� he added.
McGrail-Bateup considered himself the world鈥檚 loudest man rather than the loudest person, he said. There was no previous record for the loudest man.
鈥淚鈥檓 pleased that she (Flanagan) gets to keep her record. So she鈥檚 still the loudest woman in the world and I鈥檓 the loudest male in the world,鈥� McGrail-Bateup said.
McGrail-Bateup said he stumbled upon Flanagan’s record when searching unsuccessfully for feats in the realm of town crying.
He became competitively loud when he was appointed the official town crier of the national capital Canberra in 2017. It鈥檚 an honorary and part-time role established by the local government which he considers 鈥渁 bit of fun.鈥� His town crier name is Lord Joseph.
He makes announcements at community events, school fetes and car shows.
With the job came membership of the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers, a competitive professional organization dedicated to preserving members鈥� historic and ceremonial roles.
He won a 2024 guild competition with the loudest 鈥淥yez, Oyez, Oyez,鈥� at 98 dB. That was a command for silence and attention before an Australian town crier makes a proclamation.
He experimented with several words for his world record attempt before settling on 鈥渘ow.鈥�
His shout was recorded May 2 in a Canberra radio studio by a professional acoustic engineer and with witnesses present. The files were sent to , which announced the record Friday.
It鈥檚 the second time McGrail-Bateup has broken a world record. In 2019, he broke a speed record for an archer shooting 10 arrows. His time of 60.03 seconds shaved a fraction of a second off a record that had stood since 2015.
Nine months later, a 7-year-old boy shattered McGrail-Bateup’s record by 11.4 seconds.
McGrail-Bateup wasn鈥檛 interested in attempting to regain the archery record or in keeping his shouting record.
鈥淚f someone beats me, that鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� he said. 鈥淩ecords are meant to be broken.鈥�
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