A 48.5-inch vertical at 5’9″ — that’s not a typo. Hyrum Fechser is one of the highest jumpers in the world, and in this episode of Dunk Talk, I (Dylan Haugen) and my co-host Hunter Castona sat down with him to find out exactly how he got there and where he’s headed next. Spoiler: he wants to break the world record.
Who Is Hyrum Fechser?
Hyrum is 21 years old, from Utah, and stands 5’9″. He’s been dunking since he was 14, but he didn’t really get into competitive dunking until about a year ago at Dunk Camp. Despite being relatively new to the professional dunk scene, his athleticism is on another level. Hunter and I actually witnessed him test the 48.5-inch vertical at Dunk Camp 2024, and watching it happen in person was surreal. To put that number in perspective, his head is comfortably above the rim when he jumps. He’s also been featured on Dunkademics, and if you haven’t seen his clips, you need to check out his Instagram @hyt_check. One thing that surprised me is that Hyrum can also touch 6’7″ standing — he said that’s still his standing reach record and he’s come close to 6’8″ multiple times but just can’t quite get it.
From Parkour and Track to Elite Vertical
Hyrum’s background isn’t what you’d expect from someone chasing a vertical jump world record. He was really into parkour growing up — flipping off things, jumping on walls, constantly moving. In high school, he also ran track and threw shot put. He ran the 100-meter dash with a best time of 11.48 seconds, which is solid for someone his height. He was jumping all the time but never in a structured way. He’d try to dunk three times a day in the gym, and any time he was anywhere, he’d be doing flips or jumps off whatever was around. He never warmed up, never followed a program, and never had any pain. His body just responded to the constant jumping stimulus. What really got him into the dunk world was watching Dunkademics back in the day — freshman year of high school he was obsessed with it.
The Numbers: From 35 to 48.5 Inches
Hyrum first tested his vertical in high school at 35 inches. The next time he tested was at Dunk Camp 2023, where he hit 46 inches — on a sprained ankle. He had tweaked it about a week before camp and was only at about 85% health when he tested. Even so, he won the max vert contest. He told us he was pretty confident it was around 46 before testing because he had been doing the math — measuring rim heights, doing height checks to see where he could touch on his arm — and had been telling people that number already. His standing vert back then was around 33 inches. Fast forward to 2024, and he tested 48.5 inches at camp, which is where we saw it happen live. The jump from 46 to 48.5 in one year, while dealing with injury setbacks, shows how much room he still has to grow when he’s fully healthy and dialed in.
Chasing the World Record
Hyrum’s stated goal is to break the vertical jump world record, which sits at over 50.5 inches. He’s less than two inches away from that mark, and we talked about what it would take to close that gap. One interesting thing he brought up is that Vertec testing is a skill in itself. When he’s going for a dunk, he uses the court lines to gauge his approach and spacing, but with the Vertec, those reference points aren’t there and the approach feels completely different. He believes that if he dialed in his testing technique specifically, he could test 50 inches on a really good day even now. That’s not an unrealistic claim given where he’s at and how much room for optimization there still is.
Dealing with Jumper’s Knee
One of the more real parts of the conversation was about injuries. Hyrum never had any knee pain or issues throughout high school despite jumping constantly with no warmup and no recovery protocol. It wasn’t until recently that jumper’s knee started catching up to him. It’s a common story in the dunk community — years of unstructured, high-impact jumping eventually take a toll. For someone who relies on explosive vertical power, managing knee health is now a major part of his training equation as he works toward that world record attempt.
What Makes Hyrum’s Athleticism Different
What stood out to me about Hyrum is the combination of natural explosiveness and the sheer volume of jumping he’s done over his lifetime. He’s essentially been training his jumping ability since childhood through parkour, track, and constant play, even if it wasn’t formal vert training. That base of thousands upon thousands of jumps, combined with his natural fast-twitch genetics, created a foundation that most structured programs try to build from scratch. Now that he’s actually getting more intentional about his training and recovery, the ceiling for his vertical is genuinely scary. If he can stay healthy and peak properly, that world record is within reach.
Watch the full interview with Hyrum Fechser above. Follow him on Instagram @hyt_check and YouTube @hyt_check. Subscribe to the Dunk Talk Podcast so you never miss an episode.