steve dawson – Girevoy Sport Union

GSU English Open Championships 2014

Girevik12 — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 12:31:06 +0000

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

GSU English Championship Competitors

Girevik12 — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 09:53:33 +0000

The GSU English Championships took place at the weekend there, another hugely successful event thanks to hosts Steve Dawson and the Manchester Kettlebell Club! Full results and a report of the day will be posted up soon!

Call for New Committee Members

Girevik12 — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 21:43:19 +0000

Formed in 2012 the Girevoy Sport Union of UK and Ireland (GSU) has now over 100 members across 33 clubs in 8 countries, and this is just the begining! GSU is now a recognised name as a union of top quality, professional and dedicated sport athletes.

I think it’s fair to say that the formation Committee of GSU Scott McLaughlin, Abigail Johnston, Eddie Sheehan, Mark Stapleton, Steve Dawson and Mark Stroud have done a fantastic job in getting GSU off the ground and growing it from seed into what it is today.

As well as the current work programme i.e. The Four Nations Tournament, the Annual Study Trip to Russia and ongoing seminars, there are a number of new exciting initiatives in the pipeline . In addition GSU will work with other kettlebell organisations in our member countries with united effort, to promote and develop the sport e.g. the Organisation of Kettlebell Sport England and The All Ireland Lifting Federation. We look forward to exploring on how we can collaborate our activities in the near future as we work towards our common goal of getting kettlebell sport the respect and awareness it deserves.

A new Commitee is now required to continue the GSU journey. We will be seeking nominations for Committee positions at the end of April from our members. Full details on these positions will be posted in our members section shortly. In addition we will be appointing a GSU administrative Team from the recent volunteers to conduct the day to day operational tasks of GSU.
Exciting times lie ahead for GSU. We can’t wait!