Sean Hayes earned the title of Western Canada’s Strongest Man on the Canada Day weekend in Regina, Sask.
The Courtenay man was the lone entrant from B.C. among 12 competitors from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The pro circuit show consisted of an 80-foot truck pull, a 300-pound log overhead press, a keg toss series, a car deadlift, an Atlas stones series and a giant tire flip/farmers walk medley. The top three finishers qualified for the national competition later in the summer. Hayes won three of the six events at westerns and placed no worse than fourth in the others.
“The three wins were fairly decisive, including all 10 reps I needed to win on the 770-pound deadlift in 27 seconds (out of 75 seconds allowed) and the only athlete to finish all 80 feet on the tire flip,” he said.
Hayes stands 6’2” and weighs more than 300 pounds. He runs the Hayes’ Garage Gym at his home in East Courtenay. Last year, he powered his way to a podium finish at his first professional event.
He next competes at the Shaw Classic Open, mid-August in Denver, Colo. This show is for the top 16 qualifiers in the world from an online qualifier earlier in the year. Later in August is Canada’s Strongest Man, which will feature the top 10 professionals in the country. Hayes finished third in last year’s show. Due to the podium finish, he was ranked number one in Western Canada, but westerns were cancelled last year because of COVID.
Hayes is sponsored by Cerberus Strength, Brian Toner Realty, Waterwoman Consulting and Comox Valley Dodge.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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