Sean Hayes had a pair of fourth-place results at recent strongman competitions.
The Courtenay man won the deadlift portion of the Shaw Classic by completing eight repetitions of 800 pounds in the open division, Aug. 13-14 in Colorado.
He then took part in three days of gruelling competition at Canada’s Strongest Man, Aug. 25-27 in Quebec City. The top 12 strongmen in Canada earned invites to the professional event. Hayes had won the title of Western Canada’s Strongest Man earlier in the year.
“I started off very poorly, with a badly timed leg cramp in the opening event (700-pound squat for reps) and falling before I could get any reps,” said Hayes, who was expected to do well in the event. He squats around 800 pounds. “So a zero was a tough blow.”
The second event was the Circus Dumbbell, which didn’t go much better due to a tear in an arm tendon. He finished eighth in the event.
But Hayes managed to claw back with some strong finishes. He won the deadlift at 835 pounds — a Western Canadian strongman record — placed second in the backlift at 2,400 pounds and was third in the loading medley. The latter involved carrying a 240-pound keg, 330-pound Husafell stone and 350-pound sandbag 30 feet and loading onto a platform. He was also fourth in both the atlas stones and log press.
“I finished the first day 10th, the second day seventh and was fourth in the end,” Hayes said. “It’s a step back from my third-place finish last year, but it does prove that wasn’t a one-off and I am a top-five strongest man in Canada, so I’m happy.”
He noted that the top two in the Quebec show were both top 10 at the World’s Strongest Man this year.
•This weekend, Hayes will be helping organize the amateur strongman provincials in Richmond, where several locals will compete. His daughter Annalise Hayes, 12, the youngest competing strongman athlete in Canada, competes in the teen girls division. Julianna Tracey, former B.C. Strongest Woman and runner up at nationals prior to pregnancy, competes in the lightweight women’s division. Andrew Tracey, twice crowned strongest in B.C. for lightweights, also competes in Richmond.
Hayes said former bodybuilder Tamara Nolan (middleweight) is a candidate to win B.C.’s Strongest Woman title this year in her first year in the sport.
Nicole Pederson and Alice Elstub (novice women), and Eric Timmons (lightweight novice men), also compete at provincials.
And Lataisha Maynard, competing in the 181-plus women’s division, is looking to qualify for nationals.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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