The Survivor Records Season 51 Could Break

Already in the book

Survivor 51 set several marks just by starting:

• The largest cast of first-timers ever. Twenty-one new players. Every earlier season made up entirely of newcomers started with 20 or fewer, and the only bigger cast, Survivor 50's 24, was all returnees.
• The first two-tribe start since Winners at War. Savu and Toka are the first two-tribe opening since Season 40.
• The first intentionally odd cast. Fiji also started with an odd number, but only because a castaway withdrew. Season 51 chose 21.
• The first cast with more women than men: 11 women, 10 men.
• A double Shot in the Dark miss. At Toka's first Tribal Council, Aaliyah and Jenna both played their Shots in the Dark, and both came up Not Safe, the first time two misses happened at the same Tribal. Our Shot in the Dark explainer has the full history.

Records that could fall

The oldest female winner

The oldest woman ever to win Survivor is Denise Stapley, who was 41 when she was named Sole Survivor. Kristin is 49, the oldest player in Survivor 51. If she wins, she breaks the record by about seven years.

The overall record is safe: Bob Crowley was 57 when he won Gabon.

The first first-timer to win $2 million

Only two people have won $2 million: Tony Vlachos in Winners at War and Aubry Bracco in Survivor 50. Both were returning players. If a Survivor 51 castaway lands the coin flip and then wins, they would be the first first-time player ever to take home $2 million. Our coin-flip explainer has the rules.

The first unanimous winner of the 26-day era

Five winners have swept the jury, but none since the game went to 26 days in Season 41. Our winners data breakdown has the full list. With a jury likely to be on the large side, a Survivor 51 sweep would be one of the most dominant wins in years.

Most jury votes for a woman

Aubry set that record only last season, with eight jury votes in Survivor 50. A larger-than-usual jury would give a female winner in Survivor 51 a real chance at nine.

Most individual immunity wins

The record for a winner is five individual immunity wins, shared by Tom Westman and Mike Holloway. The record for a female winner is four, shared by Jenna Morasca, Kim Spradlin, Rachel LaMont and Savannah Louie. With more players in the game after the merge, there are more immunity challenges to win.

The third Canadian winner

Erika Casupanan in Survivor 41 and Maryanne Oketch in Survivor 42 are Survivor's only Canadian winners so far. Two Survivor 51 castaways are from Ontario: Ana from Toronto and Kilby from London.

Records that are probably safe

• Most votes cancelled by one idol play: nine, by Kelley Wentworth in Cambodia.
• Most votes cancelled by a Shot in the Dark: eleven, by Kaleb Gebrewold in Survivor 45.
• The largest merged tribe: seventeen, set by Survivor 50's much bigger cast. Survivor 51 would need to lose almost no one before the merge.
• The youngest winner: Jud "Fabio" Birza, who was 21. Survivor 51's youngest castaways are 24.

What it means for fantasy

Records usually come from dominant games, and dominant games score. An immunity run, a big jury haul or a winning idol play all score under the house rules. If you drafted a castaway chasing one of these marks, your Sole Survivor pick is doubling it. The cast page has every castaway's age and background.