John Dwyer brings World Masters medals home to Ballycahill!

There was great joy in the village of Ballycahill near Thurles when word filtered back that John Dwyer had won a silver medal in hammer throwing in the World Masters athletics competition in Poland. John started hammer throwing, which is one of four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, in a big field near his house in Ballycahill.

Little did he think that day where the journey would take him! Before, when he hurled with Holycross Ballycahill and kicked ball with Clodiagh Rangers, he suffered from constant hamstring strains so after finishing those sports he turned to hammer throwing, and after 11 years of learning finally reached new heights last month in Poland.

He threw a personal best of 54.50 metres at the international event to secure the silver medal just behind Mohammed Omar of UAE and ahead of Adam Grudzien of Poland. It was a great delight to sit down in John's home house in Ballycahill and hear his story about how it all began:
“When I finished playing hurling and soccer I wanted to get into an individual sport. When I was younger I competed with Templemore Athletic club in running, cross country and track and field but I watched videos of people throwing the hammer and wanted to try it. So I went to Martin Leydon in Templemore AC and I said I am going to try hammer throwing, so Martin got me a 16lb brass hammer.

“When I got home, just out of devilment, I went up the fields and threw it 30 metres. I looked at what distance won the Munster final the previous year and it was about 33 metres, so I said I will have a craic at that!
“That's how I got started at hammer throwing!
“I got the gear then. I went to Templemore where there is a hammer cage, which protects spectators in case the hammer flys the wrong direction. That was my base for 11 years. They were great to me in Templemore AC the likes of Martin Leydon, Seamie Hartigan, Adrian Young, Josie Ryan and Michael Hennessy.

“They are very forward thinking and they encourage people so much. There is a big throwing weekend there now on the 29th of April which is something people locally would enjoy,” he said. The sport asks a lot of the human body and to specialise, extra coaching is needed so John got in touch with renowned coach Brian Acres from Bodyke in county Clare.

John found the individual training to be hugely important in order to get to the top level: “I gave a year going up to Brian who is coaching for four decades. You'd drive up and have the tea and chats, then out to his cage to throw for an hour and a half. He gave me a whole new insight into throwing. Brian and his daughter Rachel, had ideas and ways to help me and explained about letting the hammer move around you.

“It takes 500 moves to form a rhythm and 5000 moves to break it. They helped improve my technique. You just want to get better then and pick competitions to peak in. You have to train hard but it is more important to train smart and get into flexibility.

“Without stretching you would do your back or hamstrings. I go to the gym two days a week and throw five days a week. I still have more to refine but it has been a good journey to this point,” he says.

144 Irish athletes went out to the Masters World championships in Poland where Ireland had their highest ever finish, coming 7th out of 155 countries. John competed in four events including hammer throwing which is his best event: “I did the hammer, the shot, the discus and the weight thrower. In the hammer I was coming fourth after the sixth round. With one throw left I was going home with nothing or coming home with a medal so I had nothing to lose. Luckily the throw held together and was a lifetime best so I went from fourth to second.

“It was a relief and delight too after it. It is nice to do well for yourself but to do well for your family, your parish, your club and your country is incredible. It is an amazing feeling. Time was funny after the first hour after in particular with people congratulating and saying well done.” he said.

The veteran Masters championships started in the 1970s and are growing all the time. Worldwide the competition is held in high esteem and the standard in every category is high. The former Holycross senior hurler, hopes to have many more years competing:

“There is a level for everyone. I think it is an unbelievable association because for anyone who is competitive and wants to see a bit of the world it is ideal. I don't know any sport where you can stay competing at a true level right up through the years. Everyone out there is in great form and there is a universal language between athletes. The Masters is unbelievable and I will stay going as long as I can. The tournament was a Masters which you become when you turn 35. M35 for men, W35 for women then when you are forty you are into a new age bracket and that goes up along. There was a 92-year-old Chinese man running a 200 metre final out there. There were four in that race.” he said.

The history of hammer throwing in Ireland goes way back to Tailteann Games over 2000 years ago and it was highly popular for many centuries. In the 1928 and 1932 Olympic Games an Irishman, Dr. Pat O'Callaghan, won gold. Now in the 21st century there is a revival of the sport and John Dwyer is leading the way in mid Tipperary.

John's sister Sandra as well as his father among others made the trek to Poland to see him compete and when he arrived back with a silver and bronze medal there was much joy and a night of celebration at The Thatch bar in his home village.
There is more competition in store for John but on the immediate horizon is a civic reception by Thurles/Templemore MD this Thursday in Templemore.