Paul Sauers free throws

Paul Sauers (right) attempts to set the world record for free throws made in an hour with a blindfold on at Frederick Douglass High School in Detroit on March 28, 2014. He made a record 483 and is awaiting official approval from Guinness World Records.

(Jared Purcell | japurcell@mlive.com)

Paul Sauers admits he loves athletics. But what Sauers did over a month ago transcends athletics. After all, he set a world record.

Well, unofficially, for now.

Standing at a free-throw line for exactly one hour, Sauers hit an astounding 483 free-throw shots in just 60 minutes - all while blindfolded - back on March 28. That is an average of just over eight shots made every minute.

Not bad for the 52-year old teacher from Detroit Frederick Douglass High School who lives in Ann Arbor.

"If I could count the number of basketball shots I've made in my lifetime, it would be innumerable," Sauers said. "But when you put a blindfold on, it's a whole new game because you have no perspective on anything."

Sauers made the record attempt in an effort to help raise money for a mission trip he will be taking in August, where he plans to be a headmaster at a school for two years in Uganda. He will be there as a part of the Rafiki Foundation's efforts to help improve lives for African's throughout 10 countries on the continent.

Sauers will be in the Rafiki Village that are set up in Uganda, where many orphaned children are taken care of and given various learning and life opportunities.

Paul Sauers stands with his wife Sarah, son Caleb and daughter joy shortly after hitting 483 free throws in an hour while blindfolded. The record is awaiting Guinness World Record Approval.

With two of his six children having been adopted, Sauers is very passionate about raising awareness for his cause to help orphaned children. His record-breaking effort helped raise $1,500 for his mission to Uganda.

"They bring in (orphans) at three years old and it's their new home for the next 18 years," Sauers said. "The house them, they feed them, they educate them. It's their village, their home."

As far as the record is concerned, all Sauers is waiting on now is the official recognition from Guinness World Records. After setting the record at the end of March, Sauers is confident that they did everything that Guinness requested of him and is just waiting for the notice.

"I'm certainly not waiting with bated breath," Sauers said. "There's no reason why it won't go through. When you actually sign up to set a record, they give you a long list of things that you need to do. I've worked those things to a tee."

Guinness gave Sauers a minimum goal of 150 free-throws in an hour, since it had never been attempted before. Shattering the goal, Sauers set the record in front of a modest crowd of about 20-30 people, most of which we involved in Sauers preparation process.

Michael Walters, a friend and co-worker at Douglass, said the idea of having an assembly for Sauers' attempt was tossed around. Instead, it seemed best to keep it more intimate.

"At the moment he started, it was thrilling," Walters said. "At the moment of hitting the 150-mark ... That was exciting. At the end, when he was getting up into the 400's, those might have been exciting but the rest of the time in between was like watching paint dry."

Even if paint was drying, Sauers would not have been able to watch it.

Sauers mentioned how shooting blindfolded was much different than the times he would impress his students by shooting with his eyes closed. After all, once the blindfold is on, opening your eyes does not help you reevaluate your position.

Sauers is a free-throw connossieur. But being blindfolded really brings it back to basics and muscle memory.

"Just because I'm a good free-throw shooter, it made it easier for me," Sauers said. "The interesting thing about doing it blindfolded was I literally had to go back to the fundamentals of shooting free throws."

Having practiced in four 15 minute sessions with a blindfold, Sauers made sure to get support for his world record attempt. One person was even allowed to give Sauers direction on how to adjust his shot if it missed.

Still, on his first attempt during the record-setting session, Sauers tossed an air ball. Luckily, he had support from his three sons throughout the whole process

"My youngest son is 11 (Caleb), he was helping to rebound," Sauers said. "My middle son (Ben), who is graduating from college this year was the one who was feeding me basketballs. My oldest son (Michael), who is a teacher himself in Fort Wayne, he was the one standing behind me telling me what happened on each shot."

It was expected that Sauers would have taken a short break while the clock kept running but he never stopped.

"I thought (Sauers) would take a break and he actually expected to take a break during the event," Walters said. "He just kept shooting straight through. I was surprised about that."

The whole experience has Sauers preparing to set more world record attempts in the future. Now that he has gone through the process, he believes he can promote his efforts better and continue to help raise awareness and money for the Rafiki Foundation and his mission trip in the future.

"I think I'm going to sign up through Guinness officially again to set a couple of more records," Sauers said. "The reason I'm going to do that is because I'd like to capitalize on what I've done already. I'd like to do it as a stepping stone to possibly raise more support."

What does Sauers have in mind?

"I'm thinking about requesting setting a world record for free-throws made, blindfolded with one arm tied behind my back."