Friendship, competition drove Regina strongwomen to national success

After years of literal blood, sweat, tears and strained muscles, Tracey Halladay declares her title. 

"I'm legit Canada's strongest woman, like actually. Wow."

It's been a long road to the top of strength sports for the Regina elementary school teacher.

Halladay started as a traditional, barbell-based powerlifter back in 2006. After the birth of her daughter Jordyn in 2012, she paid more attention to her husband and his friends who were training as strongmen.

Six years later, Halladay is Canada'a first national champion professional strongwoman.

Strongman, or strongwoman, is a very old sport that is seeing massive growth in Canada. It involves feats of strength such as lifting cement stones lifts, flipping tractor tires and pulling trucks. If it's oddly shaped and heavy, there's a good chance a strongman or strongwoman will try to lift it. The competitions aim to test overall might, grip strength and, more recently, endurance. 

Canada's amateur strongman and strongwoman organization, ACAFA-CAASA, only developed in the last couple years. The men's pro division has existed for a long time under the Circuit Hommes Forts - Strongman Circuit banner.

On September 15 and 16, Plantagenet, Ont. hosted Canada's first ever professional strongwoman competition. Out of ten professional strongwomen competing, five were from Regina: Halladay, Taunia Stevens, Amanda Tafelmeyer, Jess Theaker and Brittany Brecht. 

We're friends, but at the show we are still competitors.- Taunia Stevens

Halladay had a small lead on her competition after the first day. She extended it by winning day two's first event, the truck pull.

"I still was not comfortable with that because I knew the girl in second (Emilie Morin), was super strong," Halladay said.

It wasn't until halfway through the final event, the farmers walk, that Halladay felt she had it in the bag.

"I knew for sure that I could be like, boom, this is mine," she said.

Friendship as fuel

Halladay credits a lot of her success to having a supportive and reliable training partner in Stevens. The two met through powerlifting. As Halladay's interest in strongwoman grew, she was able to entice Stevens to transition over.

"The saying goes, 'steel sharpens steel,' so having somebody who is there with the same mentality and the same goals to push you, definitely helps a lot," Stevens said.

Halladay agreed. She said Stevens gave her someone to compete with in training.

"We have our weaknesses and our strengths so we work on our weaknesses by chasing the other one," Halladay said.

They motivate each other at competitions, even when they are seeking the same prize. 

"Obviously I want her to do as well as she can do, but I would like to win," Stevens said with a laugh. "We're friends, but at the show we are still competitors."

Stevens finished third in Ontario, climbing back the second day after sitting in seventh place at the end of day one. 

"I knew she deserved that third place, at the very least," Halladay said. "She did amazing and I'm so proud of her."

As for the rest of the Saskatchewan athletes, Tafelmayer finished fourth, Theaker finished fifth and Brecht finished seventh. 

Growth of the sport across Canada

Canada's amateur strongwoman scene continues to grow. A national level amateur competition in Quebec drew more than 100 athletes a week after the pro championship. There were almost equal numbers of men and women, something that Halladay said is very exciting.

"They're just going to get better and better and better and then our pro division is going to get more and more competitive," Halladay said. "That's what we need. We want everyone at the top."