A new club has been set up in Galway to teach the growing sport of kettlebells.
Sarah Smith and Ronnie Warde, who have recently been certified following the first grading event in Ireland, have launched the Girevoy Sports Club to introduce beginners to Girevoy sport and to get a team from Galway to compete in competitions.
The club will be open every Saturday in Mervue Soccer Club between 5pm and 6pm with both Smith and Warde, a former All Ireland cross county and Connacht champion, as instructors.
Recently Smith received her RGSI instruction certificate and the Certificate of Sport Rank 3 at the first official Russian Girevoy Sport Federation Certification in Ireland, which was held in Wexford. Smith is one of just three females to have this rank and certification in Ireland.
The ancient sport of kettlebells involves three traditional lifts, jerk, snatch, and clean and jerk. The objective of each event is to complete as many repetitions as possible of the lift within a 10 minutes period which requires both endurance and strength. The exercises develop general physical endurance, strength, flexibility, coordination, and speed.
