Easy as pi!

IMAGINE A long column of five-figure numbers. And another, and another, and another... Imagine dozens of columns, thousands of numbers.

Imagine trying to memorise them. To most of us - who have trouble remembering our own telephone number - the idea is mind boggling, frightening even.

But it doesn't have to be. Convert these numbers to letters, each signifying something or someone - turn 23 into BC (Bill Clinton), 51 into EA (Eamonn Andrews), 42 into DB (David Bowie) - and instantly the task seems less difficult.

"You can train your brain to think, read, learn and remember more quickly," says David Thomas, who won a place in the Guinness Book of Records last May by reciting the mathematical formula of pi from memory to 22,500 digits, beating the previous European record of 20,013.

"If you use powerful images, it is easy to bring them to mind."

David, of Whinney Hill Park, Brighouse, broke the record for pi after training - he taught himself - for only 18 months. Add to this success in the World Memory Championships held in London - he came third in 1997 and fourth in 1996 at his first attempt, and you have a mental force to be reckoned with.

Amazing, for a man who did not apply himself to the memory game at all until 1995, when a TV game show changed his life. He was watching Talking Telephone numbers, hoping to win the £20,000 prize, when on came their guest, five times world memory champion Dominic O'Brien.

Says David: " He was given a pack of cards and took three minutes in the interval to memorise them. It was phenomenal. Four months later I saw a piece in the paper about him going to France to make thousands playing blackjack and I had a vision of me going to Europe on my days off to play cards." He adds: "It also said that O'Brien was self-taught and did not start until he was 30, when he saw someone memorise a pack of cards on TV."

David was hit by a strong sense of deja vu. He bought O'Brien's book and in no time could memorise a list of ten items forwards and backwards.

"The key is to associate items with weird and wacky images - if you're trying to remember a shopping list, eggs and bread for instance, imagine eggs smashed all over the front room, grey and smelling, and for bread picture flour all over, dust everywhere. It's very simple."

He adds: "I've always had a good imagination. My mother made me read a lot as a child and I was very grateful for that. Reading gives you a wonderful opportunity to use your imagination."

Quickly hooked, David got in touch with memory wizard Creighton Carvello, who inspired O'Brien. Carvello helped him prepare for the world championships.

David has won the respect of the world's greatest memory men, and through his sheer hard work and dedication, has joined their ranks himself. He still can't believe it. "The one thing I do realise is that I have an exceptional talent and there are only a handful of people in the world who can beat it."

It has taken a lot of dedication, and much support from his girlfriend, trainee counsellor Julie Holdsworth, and her children Danielle, 15, and seven-year-old Nathan.

David's success is far removed from his schooldays, when he failed three out of four A-levels, including maths. "I didn't have the highly developed logical and analytical skills that I have now," he says.

His mates in the West Yorkshire brigade, where he has worked for ten years, are unfazed by his powers - to them he's just one of the lads.

David makes use of his time between calls at Brighouse Fire Station to write the book he hopes will offer people the chance to expand their minds and unlock their true potential.

His three-bedroom terraced house is the base for David Thomas Associates, from where David organises mind-improving courses to help people exercise their mental capabilities.

He can be contacted on 01484 719382.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.