By ERIC VICCARO
bnewssports@gmail.com

It’s finally official.
After nearly a year of waiting, the Guinness World Records website stated the “Put Yo Money Where Yo Mouth Is” washer pitching tournament is the current record holder.
During the 2014 event, there were 486 participants from all over that descended on Joe Wheeler Park in Decatur. There were entrants from as far away as Florida and Canada.
Those 486 participants were broken down into 243 two-person teams for this single-elimination formatted event.
“It was good to get this news prior to our next washer tournament this year,” said Carey Williams, the tournament organizer. “It’s been a neat experience for us, to see the community pull together.”
Williams reported there were washer pitchers of all ages, ranging from as young as six years old to 90 years old.
Because of a glitch with electronic equipment, data ranging from pitchers’ names to tournament scores had to be entered manually.
“There was a lot of work,” Williams said.
Amanda Williams, Carey’s wife, had been constantly monitoring the Guinness web site, and it kept reading “pending” until July 1.
Williams said an official certificate of authenticity has been mailed from Guinness world headquarters in England.

Here’s a shot of the entire field of entrants from the Wise County Reunion Washer Tournament at Joe Wheeler Park in Decatur. It was reported 243 two-man washer pitching teams competed on Tuesday to hopefully establish a new Guinness Book of World Records benchmark. (Courtesy photo)