Pressing the flesh at Nimeta bar

TALLINN - Drop and give me…98? That's how many push-ups it took for Tom Solli, of Norway, to win two round trip tickets to anywhere at a push-up competition at Nimeta bar on March 10.

Solli and several other beefy foreigners and locals, competed against the Guinness Book of World Records' holder Paul Lynch of Ireland to see how many floor presses they could do in a given time. The prizes? The winner flies off with a friend to the destination of his choice. The losers take home a case of A.Le Coq beer, the company sponsor of the event. To be fair, Lynch had one arm behind his back.

Lynch set the world record for the most push-ups back in 1996 when in a one-minute time frame he did 124 push-ups using just one arm and one finger. He set another record at Nimeta by completing 106 one-arm push-ups in one minute against Solli in the final round. Solli had earlier beaten Lynch 98 to 86, but when they competed again, the world champ, switching to his good arm, came out on top. Solli still got his prize.

Nimeta, at Suur-Karja 4/6, regularly holds theme nights and competitions that attract a good crowd to the Old Town bar. A few weeks ago, "Beach nights" saw skimpily clad patrons dancing and drinking in a sun-and-fun environment, complete with a sand-covered floor.