Philly’s Maya Winters and Rob Kearney Win Strong(wo)man Duos Competition

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Big news, sports fans! Last week I told you about local athlete Maya Winters, the college arts education professor who also just so happens to be the reigning middle-weight title holder of America’s Strongest Woman. (Go ahead, swoon, lesbians!)

When I wrote, she was about to join up with fellow and openly gay strongman competitor Rob Kearney to represent LGBTers in a rare Couples Strong(wo)man Competition at Lightning Fitness in Windsor, Connecticut. The competition was Saturday, and they kicked ass, taking home the contest’s top prize. They won!

Winters tells me they competed in a variety of challenges: the max log press, 12-inch deadlift with chains, couples tire flip, sandbag medley and the atlas stone load. If you don’t understand what all that is, just imagine muscles bulging, veins popping, and impossibly heavy objects being tossed around like rag dolls.

While they didn’t get perfect scores in every challenge, their final numbers put them at the top of the scoreboard, something that Winters admits was surprising. “Going into the comp, we were honestly pretty anxious. Expectations for our performance were pretty grand. Rob and I were competing up a weight class. Typically I compete at middle weight and rob competes in the light-weight pro division.”

But they pulled it out. Many congrats to both.

Now, Winters tells me, she’s training for her next competition under Brandon Lilly. “He’s running me through a program called Cube-PREDATOR. I’m extremely excited about this. My goal is to build strength for a while, compete in a powerlifting meet, and see where things go from there.”

I know it doesn’t take a lot of strength, Maya, but what about taking on a Woman Crush Wednesday?