SOME pigsare not happy only in mud - some prefer diving blocks and a pool. 'Miss Piggy' tomorrow is set to set a world record for pig diving, when she is expected to dive from a 5m platform at the Royal Darwin Show. Unless it's a bellyflop, Miss Piggy's efforts will earn her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. "There's no diving record for pigs anywhere," Miss Piggy's owner Tom Vandeleur said today."The Guinness Book of (World) Records/I> called me a few weeks ago and wanted to know if I was interested in setting the first one. "It's the distance they're after more than anything. "We're hoping she'll go around about 4m (out from the platform). "She dives pretty well – she's already had a dive this morning. "She loves it. And no matter what happens tomorrow and how far she goes, she'll be the record holder."
Mr Vandeleur, a former pig farmer, switched to performing pigs more than a decade ago. He started racing them around a 35m track, even training them to jump hurdles, before discovering they also liked to swim. "Having bred pigs and seen their antics, I just knew this was something they would be able to do," Mr Vandeleur said. "Pigs are water animals. They love the water, they've got no fear of it. "It's just the height problem they have to overcome." It's taken just a month to train Miss Piggy, who is under no pressure to perform. "She does everything herself – she's not pushed or anything," Mr Vandeleur said. "She goes up the 5m ramp herself, she dives herself. "We've been diving pigs for six years."