Infant's amazing record stands

A WORLD record is something most people won't achieve in their lifetime but for Cody Hawdon one came within 20 minutes of taking her first breath as a newborn.

Cody Hawdon at her parents Gulmarrad home, 17 years after her world record flight.

A WORLD record is something most people won't achieve in their lifetime but for Cody Hawdon one came within 20 minutes of taking her first breath as a newborn.

Just 17 minutes after she emerged from her mother Glenda's womb, Cody earned the title of the youngest person in the world to fly a kite.

And hers is a record that still stands more than 17 years later despite several attempts to break it.

Aided by a fan, Cody was cradled in the arms of her father, former world kite champion Bruce, as she held onto the sting line of a miniature kite.

Glenda said the family had planned the world record attempt and were enthusiastically assisted by the staff at Victoria's East Gippsland Regional Base Hospital.

The world record flight was more than just seeking fame; photos of the event circulated the world kiting community to promote the 1995 World Sport Kite Championships held at the Victorian town of Lakes Entrance that Cody's mother helped organise.

News of Cody's feat went global with the world's premier kite publication, the American Kite magazine, featuring a story of Cody's achievement.

The achievement and ensuing story helped the championships to secure $8.5 million in funding so they could be held.

Since performing the feat and growing up around kiting competitions, Cody said she had developed good friendships with many international competitors that the family still keep in regular contact with.

But her kiting connections don't stop there.

Glenda said Cody was named after famed early kite flier William Cody, who developed the world's first man-lifting kite.

She said Cody was born when she was 40 and was the last of their seven children.

“We figured a child born late in life needed the best lift she could get so we named her Cody,” she said.

Originally published as Infant's amazing record stands