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Byron Schlenker's Guinness record for World's Widest Tongue stands at 8.3 cm, or 3.27 inches. That's 4 mm wider than the previous record held by Jay Sloot of Australia.

(Submitted photo)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The 2015 Guinness Book of World Records -- the 60th edition -- hits stores today, and Byron Schlenker, a New York State Fair property manager, represents Syracuse for breaking the record of the World's Widest Tongue.

It all started in Onondaga Free Library, where Schlenker's 13-year-old daughter was searching for a nonfiction book for a school assignment. Schlenker suggested the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records.

Byron Schlenker holds the 2015 edition of the Guinness Book of World Record. Schlenker's tongue measures 8.3 cm at its widest point.

He randomly opened to the page with the "World's Widest Tongue" to show his daughter. She borrowed the book for her report.

Driving home, Schlenker wondered how wide his own tongue was. He asked his wife Vicki to measure his tongue that night, half-joking.

"She literally said, 'Get away from me," said Schlenker, 46.

So he asked his daughter to measure it, who agreed his tongue looked larger than the current 7.9 cm record (3.11 inches).

Schlenker wrote to Guinness. He received an email back saying he could pay $2,500 for a Guinness rep to visit Syracuse and measure it. He didn't know he could simply shoot photos of his tongue and send them to London to be considered for the record.

"I stopped reading the email after that," Schlenker said. "I didn't realize you could do it for free. I just let it go and forgot about the whole thing."

About eight months later, a Guinness World Records rep in London was deleting old applications, and Schlenker's photo caught her eye.

The Guinness World Records required two notaries and doctor to confirm the width of Byron Schlenker's record-breaking tongue. From left to right, notary Kathy Huckabone, notary Robert Schuyler, record holder Byron Schlenker, Charlene Rivera and Dr. Joseph Colosi pose together.

She asked for a doctor and two notaries to measure his tongue using a hard, metal ruler, confirming the width. All the measurements had to be recorded on video and sent to Guinness.

After that, Guinness sent him a certificate confirming he broke the record.

Schlenker's record stands at 8.3 cm, or 3.27 inches. That's 4 mm wider than the previous record held by Jay Sloot of Australia.

Guinness sent out a photographer to Syracuse.

"They had me licking ice cream cones and they lined up Tic Tacs across my tongue," Schlenker said. "I had to stick out my tongue for three hours. It's a muscle like anything else, and can get bigger. If I measure, my tongue now, it's about 8.6 cm."

By the way, 14 Tic Tacs fit across his tongue, horizontally, in a straight line.

"I would have never done it if they hadn't contacted me back," Schlenker said. "It wasn't something I'm striving for. I don't mind if someone beats my record or not."

Schlenker, his wife and his three daughters have known about the broken record since October of 2013, but had to keep it secret until the book was published. When one of his neighbor's daughters heard about the record, she asked, "Doesn't it hurt?"

It doesn't. Despite the size of his tongue, Schlenker has never had trouble speaking, though he does have sleep apnea and he used to snore.

"Who would've ever known that your tongue is bigger than anyone else's?" he said. "Unless you're Miley Cyrus or Gene Simmons, it's not normal to stick it out all the time. Now when I meet some people, the first thing they say is, 'Let me see it.' It can get be pretty awkward."

The Guinness World Records wanted to fly Schlenker out to London for the book's debut. They offered to pay for his hotel, flight and expenses, but he didn't have a passport.

"Also, I didn't know if I wanted to go all the way to London to stick out my tongue," he said. "My wife certainly wanted to."

He'll get his passport to bring his wife to Rome for the Guinness World Records TV special. Meanwhile, in Syracuse, Onondaga Free Library plans to hold a book signing for the 2015 Guinness Book of World Records.

"The funny part of this is I never really stuck out my tongue," he said. "I didn't practice for this. Somebody out there surely has a wider tongue, but I'm just going to enjoy this for what it is. I don't take it too seriously."

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