Strong arm of the law

Dunsborough has a new world record holder — Sen. Const Adam Haines-Monaghan is the world’s strongest man under 80kg for the Axle Clean and Jerk.

On Saturday, at a State qualifying event, Haines-Monaghan lifted 141.6kg, eclipsing the previous world record of 140kg held by American Patrick “The Cannon” Castelli.

Haines-Monaghan said it was his wife and colleagues at Dunsborough police that had enabled him to achieve this remarkable feat.

“It took a little while to sink in that I can call myself a world record holder, but I do like the ring of it,” he said.

“The result of the grind was quite emotional actually.

“It made it worth it.”

Despite the achievement, Haines-Monaghan’s training continues, with a steely focus on the November State Championship.

“I’ve had a couple of setbacks with injuries and balancing work and family life — to me family comes first so I come home from work and put the kids to bed and then train from 8.30- 11pm,” he said.

The 40-year-old said training would never jeopardise his relationship with his two-year-old and four-month-old sons.

“My wife Gen is very supportive of it as long as I put the time in as Dad,” Haines-Monaghan said.

“At the end of the day I couldn’t do this if she resisted it, but she’s awesome. She comes out and yells at me to lift heavier before going to bed.”

World strongmen are a rare breed. We’re used to seeing five-time European heavyweight champion Hafpor Julius Bjornson on our television screens as the Mountain in the epic television show Game of Thrones.

Dunsborough now has its own world-class man-mountain, with Haines-Monaghan aiming to compete in the World Arnold Championships in America.

The current State champion won the under 80kg title in October last year and plans to compete in the 2019 Australian Arnold Championship with the top three performers earning the right to compete at the world championship.

“I came fourth last year at nationals but that’s OK I’ve improved,” he said.

“The aim is to be the world’s strongest man under 80kg and my coach Max McCall genuinely believes that is possible.”

The next “Everest” to climb is the cost of competing in Melbourne and America with Haines-Monaghan searching for more sponsors.

Fellow competitor and owner of Cerberus Strength Australia Carl Sherry has recently signed Haines-Monaghan on a 12-month contract.

“Unless you’re a heavyweight strongman we’re not often a big-sponsored athlete — to get support is quite hard — I hate doing fundraising events but I need to,” he said. “I always tell myself, when you’re not motivated be disciplined.”