New Texting Speed Record Set

A Singaporean student appears to have thumbed her way into the Guinness Book of Records after smashing the previous fastest time for text-messaging a 160-character text on a mobile phone.

The Singaporean media reported yesterday that Kimberly Yeo, 23, clocked 43.24 seconds in the final of a competition organised by the city-state's main telephone company, SingTel.

The runner-up in the 125-competitor event on Sunday, Ashley Tan, 18, finished 0.2 seconds behind. Both times are still subject to verification by Guinness.

The previous record, set last year by the Briton James Trusler, was a comparatively ponderous 67 seconds.

All attempts to become the world's fastest texter have to use the following two sentences: "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."

Competitors are not allowed to use spelling aids or a predictive text programme on their phone.

Ms Yeo, a business administration student who sends thousands of messages a month and won £8,000 in cash and other prizes, said she had been extremely nervous before the event.

"There are a lot of people, the contestants and everyone, so it's very pressurising," she told Channel News Asia.

Mr Trusler, 30, who works for a mobile phone company in Fiji, told the Guardian he never thought his record would be eclipsed by such a wide margin. "Of course, I was expecting it to be beaten," he said. "I was thinking low 50s, but when I heard it was in the 40s I was amazed."

The deposed champion - who says the key to fast texting is not to look at the screen - said he would try to reclaim the title.

"I'm returning to the UK in August so that might be the time to try," he said. "But I text faster in the warm, so if I attempt it there it will have to be indoors in a heated room."