The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 18 ,2 02 1 | 22 Call us today! Book a FREE assessment, receive $10 credit towards Spring registration.* 905-339-3000 Small Class Sizes Warm Salt Water Pool Sessional Programming Technique Driven Program REGISTER NOW for Spring 2021 COVID SAFE & SANITIZED *(one per family, can not combined with other offers) www.theswimacademy.ca 407 Speers Road Unit 8 Oakville swim@theswimacademy.org Get the Toronto Star weekend home delivery for just $399* AWEEK FOR12 MONTHS YOU'LL GET: • Saturday and Sunday home delivery • Starweek Magazine print edition • Complimentary 7-day ePaper edition • Complimentary 7-day access to thestar.com website *Plus HST. This introductory offer is not available to existing Toronto Star subscribers. Save 46% off the newsstand rate for Saturday and Sunday delivery. This offer includes Starweek Magazine. The New York Times International Weekly or Book Review sections are not included. This offer is for a 12-month term and includes complimentary access to thestar.com and the Toronto Star ePaper edition. Complimentary access is available to Toronto Star home-delivery subscribers with an active account in good standing. If you choose to cancel your print account, or your subscription is in arrears, your access to thestar.com and the ePaper edition will be discontinued. The Toronto Star reserves the right to discontinue this offer at any time. Toronto Star delivery will continue after the 12-month introductory period at the regular home-delivery rate then in effect. This offer is a fixed subscription term. If you cancel prior to the end of the term, you will be charged an early cancellation fee equal to amounts otherwise payable for the remainder of the term, plus applicable taxes. The cancellation fee will be charged using the billing method we have on file at the time of cancellation. Please contact customer service at 416-367-4500 to get the regular rate for your area. Payment must be made by credit card only. Credit card payments will be billed monthly. View our subscriber agreement terms at www.thestar.com/ agreement. Toronto Star is committed to protecting your personal information. View our privacy policy at www.thestar.com/privacy. Offer expires May 1, 2021. SAVE 46 % OFFTHE NEWSSTAND RATE SUBSCRIBE ONLINE: thestar.com/2daysave OR CALL: 416-367-4500 and quote code 2DAYSAVE for weekend home delivery for 12 months What started out as a way to entertain himself during family road trips to Vermont has turned into a Guinness World Record for an Oakville student. Matteo Mini Hirsch would pass the hours in the car playing a small, pocket- sized version of the game Si- mon. The game, first pro- duced by Milton Bradley in 1978, creates a sequence by lighting up four coloured buttons and producing a se- ries of tones. The player must then press the buttons to replicate the sequence. The sequences get progres- sively longer and more com- plex with each successful attempt. "My memory has always been a gift," the 12-year-old said, "and I liked (Simon) because it helped build up my memory." "He really liked it and he had a talent for it," said his mom Maria Mini. "He's competitive, but in a good way. He's a goal-setter. He sets a goal and then goes and gets it." Matteo has also had a fascination with records, but doesn't think that's unique to him. "Everybody likes the Guinness World Book of Re- cords," he said. "Whenever you try to take the books out of the library, they are al- ways on hold." The Grade 7 student at St. Mary Catholic Elemen- tary eventually looked to see if there was a record for Simon, and was surprised to see the record was 15, which he had been achieving reg- ularly. In August, he sent in an application for a record at- tempt and began practising. He received the require- ments for the attempt and on Nov. 27, his parents re- corded his attempt. Though he was confident in being able to break the re- cord, Matteo said he still felt nervous, knowing at any point one misstep could end his bid. But Matteo flew past 15, topped 20 and was still going strong with a personal best of 25 when he accidentally double-clicked a button. "Even with the misclick, I was still happy with it," he said. "But I think I could have done 30." Matteo had to submit his video for confirmation and for weeks, he watched the mail, hoping to find out if he'd been successful in set- ting a record. After waiting for three months, a FedEx truck pulled up in front of the house with a big envelope. Matteo opened it and found a certificate from the Guin- ness World Records. "That was one of the greatest feelings," he said. As for adding more re- cords, Matteo says he's in no rush."Honestly, probably not," he said. "I'm good at Minecraft, but there are people who play that game seven to 12 hours a day." A TRULY MEMORABLE ACHIEVEMENT Matteo Mini Hirsch proudly displays his Guinness World Record certificate. Graham Paine/Metroland HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com NEWS YOUTH SETS WORLD RECORD PLAYING SIMON