More than 1500 young people came together to break three GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ titles in a single day

The 30th edition of the ESN Sea Battle, traditionally organised by Erasmus Student Network Sweden took place from the 14th to 16th of November on a cruise ship travelling from Stockholm to Tallinn. In the midst of Voyage to Valhalla, on 15th of November, an international group of youth attempted to break three records in one day which resulted in an ultimate success.

The goal was to bring international students and young people from all over the world and break GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS titles in the name of modern youth. First record was Most nationalities at a coffee party was broken to celebrate one of the core aspects of Swedish culture that's called Fika. As a Swedish cultural phenomenon, Fika plays a vital role in every international student's life after their Erasmus experience in Sweden. Fika is a way of life that we are all proud of and that we want to share with the rest of the world. 

The second record was more connected to the aspect of unity and the voice that youth has in the modern world. To break the record Most nationalities in a simultaneous popular music sing-along, international students gathered together to sing ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" in the biggest venue on the Baltic Queen cruise ship, Starlight. Due to the complexity of the record, it took two attempts to finally break the existing world record with the required passion and energy.  

The final record was connected with the aspect of freedom and self-expression, which are so important for all international students who have ever travelled on an exchange. Two of the best Swedish DJs ANGRAY and JDTEK played one of the most energetic, Guinness World Records worthy sets, which set the stage for the last attempt. The highlight of breaking the record of Most nationalities at a dance partywas the "Sea Battle Dance" (also known as the ESN Dance) traditionally accompanied by Don't you worry child by the Swedish House Mafia. The result was the cherry on top and due to people’s dedication and will power the impossible was done and three out of three records were broken in a single day in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

Nobody said it would be easy to break all three GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS titles in one day, but we did it and it was such a powerful moment! Our goal was to bring together international students from all over the world and show them that when we all work together, nothing is impossible. I hope that this achievement will inspire modern youth to dream, dare and try, because no matter where we are from or who we are, we all live in the same boat called planet "Earth", sailing into a brighter future based on unity, happiness and love.

- Alex Sedov, Event Manager

I hope these GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS titles broken byESN Sweden will inspire the network towards an ambitious future together. The only impossible journey for ESNers is the one we haven’t started yet. Believe, dream, achieve and grow together!

• Tanzeem Reza Rouf, President of ESN Sweden

Around 10 years ago I would have never thought that I would be 9000km away from home, breaking a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title together with people all around the world. Sea Battle truly was an event to get many different people together in a joyful environment and I think we need more of this in the current divisive situations that we're living in. I definitely recommend all of my fellow young students to participate in more events like this and talk to people that are different from the bubble where you live in your own home!

• Pedro (Venezuela), participant

Thanks to GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™️ for the opportunity, our volunteers for all the hard work, Tallink/Silja for all the support, Responsible Party for the support through the "Drink More Water" project and creating safe conditions for all of our participants and DJs JDTEK and ANGRAY for making the record-breaking ESN Sea Battle a core memory for everyone who joined the journey.

You can find all information about the event on our channels:

• ESN Sea Battle website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• TikTok

If you are curious about the past editions, you can watch aftermovies on the ESN Sea Battle YouTube channel.