Michael’s on top of the world

SHEAF thrower Michael O’Brien from Tulla is on top of the world. Having established a new world record just a few weeks ago, he topped his record on Monday with a new height.
The Kilduff man had set a world record of 62ft at the Trim Haymaking Festival in County Meath in June but took the record a step further on Monday at the Tinahealy Agricultural Show in County Wicklow when he cleared the bar at 62ft 8.5in.
Commenting on the new world record, Michael said, “It is unbelievable to have broken it again. To break one record is a great achievement but to keep breaking it, it’s unreal.”
“Officially, I cleared it at 62ft 8.5in but it went well out over the 63ft. I could have gone further. This was the one I was training for and, thankfully, everything worked out fine; there was very little wind and everything worked well. The competition itself was won at 51ft with John Lyons from Kerry coming in second. The world record was recorded and all the officials were there for it and the officials photographed it. So that should go into the Guinness Book of World Records,” Michael explained.
Michael has bettered his own world record roughly six times since officially taking the title in 2002 but he hasn’t ruled out bettering it further as the National Ploughing Championships approach.
“I’ll go up to the ploughing championships in September so we might attempt it again there and we will be going around doing the shows in Clare as well. The world championships will be held in Melbourne at the end of September and, hopefully, I’ll go to that if I can get sponsorship. I was over there for it in 2006 where I won it. Glenn Young held the title for 10 years and I broke it in September 2002 at 60ft 2in at Ballacolla, County Laois,” he said.
While Michael makes it look easy, there is a lot of training and preparation involved, he reveals. “It’s all down to time and dedication and the will to work hard at it. It’s like any sport, if you don’t put the time in you won’t get a result. I’ve got a good bit of gym work done and physical training; you definitely need to have speed for throwing, explosive power as it’s put.”
Michael also acknowledged the support he got from Michael Fennessy from Glin, County Limerick, who he describes as “the man who makes the sheafs for me”.
“He has helped me as a coach down through the years and he is a great friend,” Michael added.
Although he has held the record for such a long period and bettered his own world title many times, Michael said he enjoys giving it a go every now and then and isn’t ruling out further improvements. 
“You’d be asked at different shows if you’d have a go at the record; a lot depends on the weather but I said I’ll have a go at it. I can’t see myself going much higher, maybe a foot on the outside but that’d be it,” he concluded.