Garrison resident, Emily Quant, is in her final week of training to set three new world records for sword balancing. The attempts will be in front of a live audience and accompanied by a fire performance on October 9 at Glorie Farm Winery in Marlboro.

Ms. Quant developed these acts during the pandemic, instead of performing her usual fire shows with the Pyro Department. She quickly recognized that people were responding to the number of swords she was able to incorporate in virtual shows, and began strength training to create an act where she could balance as many swords as possible.

Several world records for endurance and sword swallowing are in existence, but none that incorporate a large number of swords. For one record, she will be lifting and balancing 126 lbs of swords at once for over 6 minutes. Watching the act develop, Croton resident and professional clown Adam Auslander said, “I stopped breathing I was so scared.” As the act developed, so did her protective gear and equipment. She wears a face shield and gloves to protect from dropped swords and metal shavings. Her side tables have been replaced with custom sword stands to hold over 50 swords. The other two records involve placing swords quickly and accurately in a race against the clock.

Tickets are still available at gloriewine.com/shop/fire.