2019 July - Mid-Summer Grip Classic - Eric Roussin

[Eric Roussin]

This past Saturday I hosted the Mid-Summer Grip Classic in Ottawa, Ontario. A few months ago it seemed as though the turnout would be pretty big for this contest, but in the end this was not the case. No less than four competitors who were planning on attending are currently recovering from injuries, including Yves Gravelle, Adam Chappell, Philippe Tremblay, and Natasha Batt. The good news is that there were three first time competitors, including two women. And despite the low turnout, I knew big numbers would be lifted, because Justin Major, Joe Sullivan, and Dan Fleming were in the house.

The first event of the day was 20 mm block set grippers. This was the first time I’d ever included this event in a contest. Yves graciously lent me about a dozen of his rated grippers. Combined with mine, there were 25 to 30 grippers from which to choose. I opened with a 155 and shut if fairly easily. I then jumped to a 170 that belonged to Yves. It was a very narrow gripper, so I knew it would be much easier to set than a typical 170. I didn’t quite manage to get the handles to touch, but I had to have been very close – I’m guessing there was less than a millimeter to go. I went for the 170 again on my third attempt, but my set wasn’t quite as good. So I dropped to a 162 for my final attempt and shut it. This was good for a contest PR. Justin tied me. Joe almost got it as well, but considering he hardly sets the gripper, I’m sure he’d be able to close a much harder one if he put in some time practising technique.

Next up was the two-hand Flask. One of the reasons I included this event was because I wanted to give Yves another chance to see what he could do with this implement. It was included at Canadian Nationals in February, where he misjudged his weight jumps and consequently performed way below his abilities. Alas, Yves could not compete, but several competitors put up very respectable numbers. I lifted a hair under 217 lbs, which is exactly what I lifted at Nationals.

On the Wrist Wrench, my numbers were slightly down. I’d like to think it’s because I competed at the Canadian Armwrestling Championships a week earlier, but I’m really not sure. Justin’s numbers were also down – I suspect for the same reason. We both lifted 111 lbs and some change. Robyn Getson, a first-time competitor who also just got into armwrestling this year, did very well in this event, lifting 106 lbs.

I’m a fan of key pinch events, and I was looking forward to seeing what people could lift with the Mini Inch Pinch. I was very happy to have set a PR with a lift of 55 lbs. But Justin put on the most impressive performance with a lift of more than 61 lbs, and even getting some air with 65!

The contest concluded with a 30-item medley. I include medleys in many of my contests, and I would say this one was probably the most challenging one to date. However, nothing impossible was included. In fact, every single item was lifted by at least one competitor, with the exception of a 35-lb plate hub lift (wide hub). And while I couldn’t lift it during the medley, I lifted it soon after. I wasted a lot of time of this plate, and consequently didn’t have time to try the Blob50, which I possibly could have lifted. I didn’t even try to lift the Stirrup, which was loaded up with 175 lbs. I had never lifted more than 160 lbs on this device. However, Justin, Dan, and Joe all managed to lift it. In the end, I completed 27 of 30, while Justin completed 28.

It was a tight contest, but in the end Big Justin edged me out in the overall standings by a single point. I’m very proud of him, and the success he’s having in both grip sport and armwrestling. Next up for both of us is an armwrestling tournament on August 10^th, Living Legends in early September, and King Kong in late October!