The GSU English Open 2014 was held on the 26th April 2014 in Train Manchester, hosted by Manchester Kettlebell Club. Last year’s event had 70 competitors, this year it was over 100, with 9 countries being represented; England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Poland, USA, Czech, Norway and Andorra! The event itself went off without a hitch and ran to time thanks to the organisation skills of the hosts! This year saw the introduction of platforms to Train for the competition, and it was the second competition of the year to use the GSU’s new electronic counting system, easy to set up and use it’s a great utility to be able to use.
As well as the regular faces we see at every competition, we had some athletes from afar attend. The wonderfully smiley Linda Opsahl from Norway, who picked up a well deserved silver medal in 16kg Long Cycle (58kg category) helped by some very vocal support from her new friends at Hull Kettlebell Club.
There was also an incredibly strong team visiting all the way from Andorra. Frank Morales and his team of Sara, Monica, Jessica, Cristian and Alexandre did a great job, each one taking home medals. In total Club Kettlebell Andorra took home 4 x Gold, 3 x Silver and 1 x Bronze from the day.
A World Record was set on 24kg Jerk by Abigail Johnston of the Scottish Kettlebell Club with 163 reps who also went on to equal the World Record on 24kg Long Cycle with 124 reps.
Like last year this competition saw a very strong performance from a junior too. Meghan Tyler put up a very impressive score of 193 for her first time competing in 16kg biathlon at the age of only 14 years.
There were many strong performances on the day from seasoned competitors and new athletes alike, but overall the lasting impression of the weekend, as always, is the supportive and friendly nature of the kettlebell community who attend these events!
For a full Write up from host Steve Dawson see: Steve’s Blog
Photos of the day: English Open
