Tamara Nolan of Comox was crowned B.C.’s Strongest Woman at the amateur strongman provincial championships in Richmond on the Labour Day weekend. The 41-year-old has qualified for the national competition Oct. 22 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
A former bodybuilder and now a personal trainer, Nolan is new to the sport of strongman. Her coach and mentor is Courtenay strongman Sean Hayes, who became acquainted with Nolan several years ago when they both trained at the Comox Rec Centre.
Last year, Hayes suggested give the sport a go at Black Creek’s Strongest Man, a fun show that he holds each year at the Black Creek Fall Fair.
“Without having tried any of the events previously, she won the show with some performances that put everyone on notice,” Hayes said, noting that bodybuilding tends to rely on lighter weights and higher repetitions, which doesn’t necessarily train strength. “Tamara, apparently bored by that style, had been pushing heavier and heavier weights. She’s also naturally athletic, and has great body movement and mechanics knowledge as a personal trainer.”
Nolan and others train at Hayes’ Garage Gym at his home.
“He has put in a lot of time getting me developed,” said Nolan, a mother of two daughters. “He’s also coaching me in powerlifting, so I’m doing both sports. I’m very grateful to him. He saw potential in me that I didn’t know that I had.”
Strongman is a series of events that involve lifting and movement, while powerlifting is limited to squat, deadlift and bench press.
Nolan holds Canadian Powerlifting League records in bench, squat and deadlift in the Under-82 kilogram category.
“I love competition,” said Nolan, who is a middleweight (maximum 180 pounds). However, due to a lack of opponents, she has been competing against heavyweights in the open division.
She had won two of three B.C. Strongman qualifier shows this year before the event in Richmond. As expected, it came down to a battle between Nolan and defending champion Lataisha Maynard, also of the Comox Valley. Hayes said Nolan “propelled herself by bookending the show with a couple of standout performances” — a 285-pound yoke squat for 17 reps in the first event, and a 220-pound atlas stone for five reps in the last one.
“I have beat her a couple of times in a row,” Nolan said of Maynard. “She is a fierce competitor. She’s a very strong person.”
Hayes expects Nolan to outperform her expectations at Amateur Nationals — and start to realize how far she’s come in a short time.
“She has potential to turn pro by next year,” he said.
Nolan looks forward to moving onto bigger things and competing in her weight category.
“It’s exciting,” she said.
Other members of Hayes’ Garage Gym at provincials:
•Annalise Hayes was second in the teen women’s class.
“It came down to the last event, tied in points, where she lost by one rep (145-pound atlas stone for three reps),” her father Sean said. “She set a B.C. teen women’s record on overhead log press with 100 pounds, two reps.”
•Julianna Tracey won the lightweight women’s class, and Andrew Tracey was second among lightweight men — both returning to strongman after a break for their now 18-month-old daughter.
“Julianna set a lightweight women’s record on overhead log press with 130 pounds for four reps,” Hayes said.
•Alice Elstub and Nicole Pederson finished second and third respectively in the novice women’s class.
•Thomas Sitter and Eric Timmons finished third and fourth respectively in the novice men’s class.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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