Steve Trotter
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| Steve Trotter | |
 Steve Trotter at Niagara Falls, 1985
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| Born | 1963 (age 44–45) |
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| Occupation | bartender |
| Known for | stunt performer |
Steve Trotter (born 1963 in Barrington, Rhode Island) is a daredevil who has twice gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel, and performed other illegal stunts.[1]
In August 1985, Trotter became the youngest person ever (age 22) and the first American in 25 years to go over the Falls in a barrel.[1] 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. The barrel's interior was padded with the same foam material used to pack nuclear warheads. Trotter was strapped into a 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 8:00 am, Trotter's 11-man crew launched his barrel into the Niagara River rapids, a quarter-mile from the brink of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.[citation needed] 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.”
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.[citation needed] He was selected by Mademoiselle as "One of the 10 Sexiest Men in the World."
Ten years later, on Father’s Day 1995, Trotter went over the Falls again, becoming the second person to go over twice and survive.[1] It was also the first-ever "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 80 minutes. The barrel, at a cost of cost $19,000, was reportedly paid for by an investment banker in Florida.
This time the Niagara Parks Authority was less amused. Trotter spent two weeks in jail and was fined $5,000.[citation needed]
Trotter also achieved notoriety in November 1985, when he set the world record for the longest "Tarzan swing" off the Sunshine skyway bridge in Tampa, FL.[2] Trotter attached a 176-foot cable to the center-span of the bridge, then moved to a point 176 feet away, and jumped off the bridge. Trotter, along with four other people sitting on small wooden disks attached to the end of the cable, in effect became the weight on a pendulum, travelling at 70 mph. The plan by Trotter had not been tested previously, and the cable snapped during the effort,causing Trotter and the four other people to plunge at least 70 feet into the bay, still tethered together by pieces of cable.This time, Trotter escaped with a bruised lung and a stiff neck. Jeff Sargent (26), too, came away banged up and bruised, but 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. Trotter was jailed and charged with trespassing.
He currently resides in Florida.[citation needed]
