July 24, 2017.
Kiwi shearer Smith 20 ahead of record pace
New Zealand shearer Rowland Smith has gone to the lunch break in his World record bid in England 20 sheep ahead of the
morning pace set by record holder Leon Samuels in his big day five months ago.
Shearing at Trefranck Farm near St Clether in Cornwall, Smith had shorn 322 at the halfway stage of his bid to break the
World eight-hour strongwool ewes record of 605 shorn by Invercargill shearer Samuels near Gore in February. Samuels had
shorn 302 at the eqiovalent stage.
Watched by four World Sheep Shearing Record Society judges from three countries, Smith shore 161 in each of the
morning’s two two-hour runs, hitting the pace from the start at 7am local time.
The opening run smashed the previous record for any two-hour run in an eight-hour record attempt – the 153 shorn by
Samuels in his morning break to lunch run in February, and the post-lunch run of of previous record holder Stacey Te
Huia, of Te Kuiti, when he set a record of 603 in 2010.
The pace set by Smith averages 44.85 seconds a sheep caught, shorn and despatched, more than two seconds a sheep quicker
was required to break the record.
Lunch ends at 11.30pm (NZST), with two hours to a mid-afternoon break of 30 minutes before the final run, ending at 4am
(NZST).
ENDS