Super Cooper claims West Offaly strongman title

The West Offaly Strongman competition was held at Ferbane Gym on Saturday last, and the event proved to be compelling viewing for the impressive crowd who turned up to see West Offaly's strongest men compete to see who was the supreme all round strongman in the area. The defending champion, Niall Mannion from Belmont made a great start and won the first two events of Max. Squat and Max. Bench Press with 180kg and 165kg lifts respectively. He was closely followed by Fergal McDermott from Banagher who claimed 2nd place in each of the two events. Colm Kenny from High Street, Belmont, won the 3rd, 4th and 5th events of Deadlift, Pick and Press, and Barbell Curls with a 250kg, 105kg and 100kg lifts respectively where he was pressed all the way by Mannion, McDermott and the all-rounder, Declan Cooper who was scoring well in all events. Keith Kenna and Martin Guinan gave very good displays of strength and endurance and were very competitive in all these events, keeping the leaders under pressure to perform. In the Dips event, Fergal McDermott beat Mannion and Cooper into joint second place in the Dips event with a 35 dips performance while in the final indoor event, Max pull-ups, Cooper put in an impressive display of 16 pull-ups to beat McDermott into second place. It was then outdoors to the final four events where a different kind of strength would be required. Colm Kenny drew first blood in the first outdoor event which was the energy sapping 'Farmers Walk' where each contestant had to carry 60 kilo in each hand as far as possible in 90 secs. Cooper pushed him all the way to claim 2nd place. The next event, the Tyre Flip, produced some mighty performances from all the contestants. Cooper just shaded Kenny and McDermott by 12 inches with debutant strength athlete Martin Guinan, who put in a storming performance in this event, the best of the rest with Mannion and Kenna bringing up the rear. At this stage Cooper was gone into overdrive registering 3 in a row first place spots as he again produced an amazing performance to win the Stone Lift and Carry beating Kenny and McDermott into 2nd and 3rd place. In the final event, the 240kg Sled Pull, Cooper shaded matters again, pipping Kenny to the post to claim the overall strongman title. His late rally proved irresistible and was key in him claiming the title of West Offaly's Strongest Man. The massively strong Colm Kenny was a close second and was followed closely again by the powerful Mannion and the pocket rocket McDermott in joint 3rd place. The robust and durable Keith Kenna claimed 4th place with the determined and rugged Martin Guinan taking 5th place after a very impressive debut. The crowd were well pleased by this display of strength and endurance and most stayed for the 6 hour duration of the competition, not daring to take their eyes off the ultra competitive action. The event was sponsored by Joe Dunne of Birr Carpets & Furniture and all proceeds are being donated to Dochas Cancer Care in Birr. Joe Mannion, Manager of Ferbane Gym would like to thank everybody for their support and generosity.