All geared up for battle of the strongest in Galway

THERE is just something absorbing about watching men with broad chests, arms like cannons and legs resembling tree trucks lifting boulders, rolling monster truck tyres, tossing six-foot logs weighing between 300 and 400 pounds and pulling lorries with a harness.

This Saturday, the qualifier for Republic of Ireland’s ‘Strongest Man’ takes place in The Warehouse Gym on Monivea Road, Galway City (1pm) and flying the local flag will be Roscahill’s Ivan Gannon of Gannon Gutters.

Although a noted powerlifter with a number of Irish titles to his name, 32-year-old Gannon has little experience in this latest venture, having only taken up the sport – with moderate success – last year.

He acknowledges himself that Saturday will represent a big step up for him but the Sligo native – who has lived in Galway most of his adult life – is determined to give the competition one hell of a go and has set himself the target of qualifying for the All-Ireland event later this year.

For Gannon’s part, the father-of-three has always had an interest in the Strongman competition, hugely popular on the continent and in the United States and which can often be viewed on Eurosport. Indeed, Eurosport are expected to have a production team at the sporting attraction on Saturday.

In any event, be it working on the farm back in Tubbercurry-Tourlestrane as a young fellow or labouring or plastering – be it in Galway or, for a time, in America – during his early 20s, it was always an ambition of Gannon to test his strength against the best, be it through powerlifting or this latest escapade.

When he was younger, though, he says he “never had the money to go ‘gyming’” and it has only been since he put down roots in Galway – and, in particular, with his wife Sharon (nee Conlon) in Roscahill – that he looked to develop his strength.

“I train at Killanin Gym but I have all my own stuff made up at home and I do a few hours on a Saturday. A few lads come over, like Cathal Walsh – another powerlifter who has won titles – and Pat Devanney, and we would work out for about two hours, going through the shows. I have all the atlas stones, the logs, a Viking press, the tyres. I have all the stuff.”

Gannon made his first foray into competition in May of last year when he entered the novice event in Belfast. “I rang Glenn Ross (promoter and five-time UK Strongest Man) and he was delighted to hear I was going up. So, I jumped in the car and headed off to Belfast myself and I was driving around these roads with not a clue where I was going. I found it anyway and gave the novice a go.”

The first event was the ‘super yoke’, which Gannon describes as “a bandstand with weights”. He continues: “It is what we will be squatting at in the qualifiers (on Saturday). Anyway, I thought that looks easy like and I said to myself, ‘I will do it as fast as those fellows. It was a melting hot day though and over I went, lifted it, and the sweat started dribbling out of me. I could not do it.

“What I realised then is that they are different beasts and that brought me down to my level. I knew ‘this is where I am now’. Then we did the car dead lift and I held it for 30 seconds. Some lads held it for a minute and 20 seconds. You know what I mean. I had to know though where I was going.

“Then, it was the Viking press and that is what I have made up at home – you lift it over your head, 115 kilos. I got 18 in that. I came third and I was happy with that. My shoulders would be strong enough anyways. Then, it was the stone, a 130 kilo stone, and I had never seen those things in my life before. I was kind of afraid looking at it,” he laughs.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.