| Steve Trotter | |
|---|---|
Steve Trotter at Niagara Falls, 1985 |
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| Born | November 1963 (age 48) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Bartender |
| Known for | Stunt Performer |
| Home town | Barrington, RI Ft. Lauderdale, FL Sandestin, FL |
| Website | |
| www.stevetrotteronline.com | |
Steve Trotter (born November 13, 1962 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a daredevil who is the youngest person to ever have gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel. He is also one of only a few to have gone over Niagara Falls twice in a barrel. He is also known for having performed other illegal stunts.[1] [2]
he would attempt to make his first journey over Niagara Falls. He was ready to get in the water in the back of the truck with the barrel breathing on his regulator when the police showed up, foiling his first attempt. He was escorted by Canadian authorities with his barrel back to the US border and released. [1]
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On August 18, 1985, Trotter began his solo journey from a location just upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. A short time later, Trotter went over the crest of the falls, falling to the water below. Steven Trotter survived the plunge uninjured. He became the youngest person to ever survive this stunt (age 22) and the first American in 25 years to go over the Falls in a barrel.[2] [3] He used two pickle barrels placed end-to-end. The exterior was reinforced with layers of fiberglass, balsa wood for flotation, and covered with truck tire inner tubes for shock absorption. Trotter was strapped into an automotive racing harness, and equipped with flashlights, lifejacket, two-way radio, and oxygen tanks. The ends of the barrel were sealed with submarine-style twist caps.
At 8:30AM, Trotter's 11-man crew launched his barrel into the Niagara River rapids, a quarter-mile from the brink of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Trotter went over the Falls and survived with minor scrapes. Trotter said the stunt was "like the best roller-coaster ride you had as a 10-year-old." He was fined $500 by the Niagara Parks Police for "illegally stunting in a park."[2]
Trotter appeared on Good Morning America and the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Trotter's photo was published in Time magazine, he made the front-page of USA Today, and numerous other publications worldwide. He was selected by Mademoiselle as "One of the 10 Sexiest Men in the World."
Ten years later on Father’s Day, June 18, 1995, Trotter went over the Falls again, becoming the second person to go over twice and survive.[2] It was also the first-ever coed duo; Lori Martin joined Trotter for the barrel ride over the Falls. This time, the barrel was made from two hot water heater tanks welded together, coated in Kevlar, with an air supply for 90 minutes. The barrel, at a cost of $19,000, was reportedly paid for by an investment banker in Florida.
Trotter wound up receiving a compression fracture in his back as a result of the stunt.[1]
This time the Niagara Parks Authority were less amused. Trotter spent two weeks in jail and was fined $14,700.[1]
Trotter also achieved notoriety in November 1985, when he set the world record for the longest "Tarzan swing" off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Trotter attached a 176-foot (54 m) cable to the center-span of the bridge, then moved to a point 176 feet (54 m) away, and jumped off the bridge. Trotter, sitting on a small wooden disk attached to the end of the cable, in effect became the weight on a pendulum, travelling at 70 mph. Trotter was jailed and charged with trespassing.
Trotter's attempted repeat of the stunt in 1997 at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, FL ended in disaster.[4] Trotter and four other people jumped, attached to the same cable. The plan had not been tested previously, and the cable snapped during the effort, causing Trotter and the others to plunge at least 70 feet (21 m) into the bay. Trotter and Jeff Sargent (26) escaped major injury. Lori Martin (30) wasn't so lucky. She broke a vertebra in her neck and stopped breathing after the accident, forcing the others to administer CPR to keep her alive in the water. Glenn Rohm (29) also broke a vertebra and had his head held in a metal halo drilled into his skull.