Taking the strain

Primarily, Lincoln is known for its historical features and beautiful scenery but on Saturday another string was added to its bow, when the Barracks hosted the National Tug of War Championships. It was a competitive day that was enjoyed by both the spectators and contestants and was open to teams of differing ages and genders.

The competitions were divided into weight categories and the games were the ‘best of three’ each time, with the winning finalists going onto compete against Europe’s best, later in the year. Each game was tense, gladiatorial even; sometimes both sides were of an equal strength, so nothing happened until one of the teams became overcome by fatigue.

It was interesting to see how important the coach was to each team. They urged their eight on – especially when they detected the opposition was beginning to weaken.

Watching just part of a game was an experience in its self. The participants dug their metal-heeled boots into the turf in unison and, with chalked hands, started to heave. Sinews were stretched to the limit as the contestants endured the agony until one side relented.

The respect for opponents was obvious by the ritual handshakes after each round. In every sense, a true sporting contest.

It was an interesting day, especially as many don’t know that tug of war is a sport that, until 1920, used to be an Olympic game.

Today it seems to be a sport that few know much about, but it is a wonderful spectacle and a great day out, as you’ll see from our YouTube film.     Click Tug of War

The local press covered the event, for details of the results click here. Our video is shown there too.

Grace, Year 9, Priory LSST