Super Saints are on top of the world
LOCAL club St. Pats set off for the World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Xuzhou, China with one goal in mind: to take the full complement of world senior men’s gold medals in the 560kg, 600kg, 640kg and 680kg categories.
The squad of 14 pullers along with Coach Hugh Mór Conway set off on the Sunday before the World Championships to make the long and arduous journey to China, along with the support crew of Leo Conway, Brian McLoughlin and Kathleen Griffin.
The structure of all TWIF international events is two days of world club championships and then two days of international championships. The exact same weights are contested in both.
First up for St. Pats on Day One of the Championships was the Senior Men’s 560kg.
St. Pats topped their group with Da Benniu from Chinese Taipei coming second, and Gaztedi from the Basque Country coming out on top in the other group, with Mountain View in second, setting up semi-finals of St. Pats v Mountain View and Gaztedi v Da Benniu.
St. Pats continued in the same vein as they have all season and defeated Mountain View to take their place in the final, with Da Benniu handling Gaztedi in the other semi-final to follow them in. The final was a quick affair, as St. Pats powered through Da Benniu two straight ends to take the first victory of the championships, the World Club 560kg.
There was no rest for the St. Pats squad as the World Club 640kg Championships was called straight away. Despite 10 pulls in the group section Pat’s again topped their section and went on to meet a Chinese team in the final and they duly added their second title of the day.
Up first on day two of the Championship was the 600kg and again Pat’s topped their group. They went on to meet Tinto Farmers from Scotland and to the increasing amazement of the spectators, both present in China and across the globe via live-streaming, St. Pats took their third gold and World title of the Championship.
The last competition of day two was the 680kg. This was contested in one group and again Pat’s topped the section before dispatching Deinum-Brit- sum who were dragged across the line in 41 seconds for the first end and 21 seconds for the second. And so St. Pats took their fourth title of the World Championships, the World Club 680kg.
This feat of taking all four World Club Senior Men’s titles has only ever been accomplished once before in either the indoor or outdoor codes, and it was in Cork 2002 and it was again by the St. Pats TOW Club. The most any other club has taken is two titles in one World Club Championships, St. Pats have taken all four twice now, and have also taken three of the four on two occasions, in Killarney in 2006 and Volendam in 2016.
St. Pats were not finished yet as they went on to represent Ireland in three weights - the 560kg, the 600kg and the 640kg. They took gold in the 560kg, bronze in the 600kg and a very close fourth in the 640kg.
Coach Hugh Mór Conway was thrilled with a fantastic World Championships performance by his full squad, with the added bonus that his three sons, Gary, Hugh Óg and Seán had formed the core of the all seven teams, along with Michael Owen McGreehan. The St. full Pats squad was: Gary Conway, Hugh Óg Conway, Seán Conway, Michael Owen McGreehan, Liam Fitzpatrick, Martin Shields, Warren Conway, Ciarán Fitzpatrick, PJ Griffin, Declan Griffin, Tommy Griffin, Shaun Doherty, Ronan Casey and Gerald Porter. THE MAMIL (Middle Aged Man in Lycra) is now a regular feature on the highways and byways of every county across Ireland every weekend, much to many motorists’ annoyance.
This one-hour radio documentary takes a light-hearted and local look at the rapid rise of the MAMIL phenomenon in Ireland. Mixing expert analysis from a sociologist studying the trends alongside input from professional bodies such as Cycling Ireland and most importantly, selected personal stories of self-confessed MAMILs, the phenomena of the MAMIL is explored.
Coined in 2010 by UK firm Minitel, the acronym MAMIL was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014 and has been happily adopted by some in the sport of cycling, while considered derogatory by others.
Interest in cycling in Ireland has swelled in recent years and the membership of Cycling Ireland has exploded - more than trebling between 2010 and 2015.
However, the personal stories behind why many men and women take up cycling later in life are as diverse as the many lycra-clad shapes themselves.
By featuring cyclists from the Cuchulainn Cycling Club in Dundalk (one of the largest clubs in Ireland) and the White River Wheelers from Dunleer, we look behind the multi-coloured lycra outfits and explore the camaraderie and social side of the world inhabited by these cyclists.
The Rise of the MAMIL was funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television License fee and produced by Little Road Productions Ltd. for LMFM Radio.
It will be broadcast on LMFM Radio on Monday 19th March at 12noon. FANE Anglers Kiltybane will their annual general meeting on 20 March in Ma Kearney’s Pub in Crossmaglen at 8pm sharp.