Heavy lifting: Kettlebell sport competition is coming to P.E.I.

Kettlebell athletes on P.E.I. are gearing up for the PEI Kettlebell Sport Open this April, an event that claims to be the first kettlebell sport competition on the Island — a sign the sport is gaining traction here.

"It's the competitive side of kettlebell," explained Susan Walsh, an organizer of the event, and a certified instructor who has her own studio, Studio K, just outside Georgetown, P.E.I. 

"It's similar to any kind of weightlifting event, the difference being it's done with a kettlebell as opposed to your big barbells," she said.

Another difference is competitors are tested on how many reps they can do in ten minutes — versus how much weight they can lift in one rep.

"In a powerlifting event it would be one rep that you do with as heavy a weight as you can do, where kettlebell sport is sub-maximal weights, for the long run." said Walsh.

"It's 80 per cent psychological as opposed to physical, it's very much mind over matter because it's a marathon type of sport."

Platform performance

Competitors are usually on a platform and a judge watches each rep for form.

"The atmosphere is absolutely electric, I've not seen anything like it," said Walsh, who has competed twice so far, since taking up the sport in 2014.

"Kettlebell sport has an incredible sense of community, everybody cheers for everybody."

There are three events in kettlebell sport: the jerk and long cycle are done with two kettlebells, the snatch with one. Women compete with kettlebells starting at 8 kilograms, men at 16 kilograms, and then increasing to 20 and 24 and higher.

It's all about personal challenge, says Walsh.

"You get to a certain level and then you just say, okay let's lift a little heavier."

"That's what keeps this sport fresh, it never really ends."

Racking up the reps

The experienced kettlebell sport competitors can rack up the reps in ten minutes.

"In ten minutes, when challenged, for snatch you're looking at anywhere from 170 to a little over 200, and for jerk, a little over a 100 and long cycle again around the same," said Walsh.

"You're not necessarily competing with the person next to  you it's very much competing with yourself and meeting the goals you might have," said Walsh.

"So for some people, it may be just being able to last that ten minutes."

Cheers and sometimes tears

"You see everything from tears at the end of a performance, people are literally jumping and screaming and sometimes that's what gets people through that ten minutes," said Walsh.

Kimberley Eagles is the owner and head coach of Platform Kettlebell Club in Moncton, N.B., and Susan Walsh's coach.

"It takes a lot for someone to get up on the platform, everybody's goals are different," explained Eagles, who will be judging the P.E.I. competition.

"To last ten minutes, because this is a strength and endurance sport, it takes a huge heart to get up there."

"We are all there to get everybody through those ten minutes."

'No more lone wolf'

Until now, Susan Walsh has been the lone kettlebell sport competitor on Prince Edward Island.

"I've been the only one at this point training in P.E.I. and it's lonely," said Walsh, who would head to Moncton, N.B., to train, or check in with her Eagles via video or phone.
 
Last weekend, Kimberley Eagles and her husband Mike put on a kettlebell sport workshop at the TCAP Family Aquatics and Fitness Centre in Montague, P.E.I., where Walsh also teaches.

Nine people each day attended a five hour workshop, introducing kettlebell sport, and there are now plans for form a team in Montague.

"The days of being a lone wolf are over and it's a good thing," Walsh said.

Bring on the competition

Eagles hopes lots of Islanders come out to watch at the PEI Kettlebell Open, which will be held April 22.

"I want them to see the heart that's involved in the sport," she said.

"I've been beating the kettlebell drum for a long time and I still run into people who will say 'what's a kettlebell' or they'll call it a kettleball," said Walsh.

"It's the beginning of something big."

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