New London CrossFit Finds Whaling City’s Strongest People

Connecticut’s buffest men and women met at on Saturday to compete in the Whaling City’s Strongest Man Competition.  Originally scheduled to be held at the , the event took place in CrossFit’s parking lot on Colman Street.  Four women and eleven men competed in the following five events:

• The Farmer’s Walk—contestants have to carry two barbells (one on each side) down and back fifty feet each and are judged on time.  The weight ranged from 135 lbs. per hand for the women to 270 lbs. per hand for the highest weight class.
• The Log Press—a timed event in which a metal “log” is lifted powerlift style as many times as possible.
• The Trap Bar—another timed event in which weights are lifted in bench press style.
• The Atlas Stone—contestants lift a round ball weighing between 120 lbs. and 240 lbs. (depending on class) up and over a yoke for 90 seconds.
• The Medley—the final event consists of three sections: carrying the weighted yoke for fifty feet, pulling a rope with a weighted end hand over hand for fifty feet, and carrying a sandbag fifty feet to the finish line.

There were six classes in all: women, teens (18-19), over 40s, 200 and under, 201-230 and 230+.  The highest class only had one contestant, Rob Kearney.  Kearney, a junior at Springfield College, is only 19 years old and is training for nationals.  “I’ve been doing this for two years now and I thought it went extremely well today,” said Kearney, who managed to carry over 500 lbs. in the yoke section of the Medley.   

Paul Gigliotti, a 40+ contestant, was the oldest contestant in the competition at age 57.  “This is my comeback meet,” he said.  “The last one was in 1992 and a lot has changed in 19 years.  I’m a little rusty and I’ve been having balance problems all day.”

After a runoff for women’s second place, trophies were handed out.  The winners were: women: Kelly Morgan; teens: Tim Kinney; under 200: David Allen; 201-230: Alex Choiniere; and, being the only contestant in the 230+ category, Rob Kearney.

The event was organized by former Connecticut state powerlifting chairman Joe Mugovero, who has been organizing strongest man competitions since 2009. “I’ve lived in New London all my life,” he said.  “It was my goal to do one of these in my hometown.”