Donal and Connell Ward of Ireland are part of a mission to revive a sport that was last seen in the Olympic Games 89 years ago.

From 1900-1920, Tug of War was contested in the Olympics, before being discontinued after the Antwerp Games.

The Ward brothers, who helped Glen of Glennties, Ireland, win the 2009 World Championships, agreed to sit down to talk about their sport during a recent visit to their Montana relatives.

As I knocked on the door of Helena resident Lenore (McKelvey) Puhek’s home for my interview with her Irish cousins, I had a preconceived vision of what the brothers would look like.

I expected to see a couple of guys built like Bruce Wilhelm, former World’s Strongest Man titlist. My memory of the sport went back in the late ’70s, when the 285-pound Wilhelm pulled 260-pound Steelers’ lineman Jon Kolb into the mud puddle during the Superstars competition.

So I was a little surprised when Lenore introduced me to the Wards. As we shook hands, I could tell the two men were in pretty decent shape. But because they are both rather lanky in stature, they didn’t fit the mold of my perception of tug of warrers.

Connell, 36, stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, while his younger brother Donal, 26, is even lankier, at 6-2 and 172.

And as I listened to the training they go through, and some of their feats of strength, I kept wondering…where do these guys’ strength come from?

Then it hit me – they were both wearing long sleeve shirts.

“Would you mind rolling your sleeves up?” I asked the soft-spoken brothers.

Ah-hah! Mystery solved.

With bulging forearms exposed, they both look like Popeye. But the Wards were quick to point out that the sport of tug of war is not just about brute strength.

“Endurance is just as important as strength,” explained Donal, in an Irish brogue so thick I really had to concentrate to understand him.

Connell described how the athletes work out year-round. During the off season, their exercises in the weight room consist of the overhead press, bench presses and squats; while their body weight workouts include pushups, pull-ups and sit-ups.

During the tug of war season, they work out twice a week with the club, in addition to a regimen on a Gantry machine. This is a pulley system mounted in a drum of concrete, with the exercises designed to build up the gripping strength in their hands and wrists.

“The goal on the Gantry is to lift 1½ times your body weight, and work out with 100 pounds for three minutes,” Connell explained.

There were six different weight classes in the Tug O’War World Championships in the Netherlands in September. The Ward’s eight-man Irish team entered in the 680 kilo (1,460 pounds) division, going by the total combined weight of the group.

Nine teams were entered in the World Championships. Ireland opened with a win over Germany, followed by victories over Wales, England, Sweden and Belgium, to reach the semifinals. Against the reigning world champion Netherlands in the semis, the Glennties team pulled its way into the finals. There they went up against a formidable club from Switzerland.

“There was a great atmosphere in the stadium at this stage, and a huge Irish support,” according to the irishtugofwar.

com web site. “The Irish team produced some outstanding pulling to win the gold medal with a straight end victory, and were crowned champions of Europe.”

Donald Ward said Tug of War is contested with a 35-yard rope, 2-inches in diameter. Most matches last about three to six minutes, “depending upon the ground conditions,” although once in a while a marathon match will go on for about 15-20 minutes.

“Everyone pulls in union, most of the power comes from the legs,” he said.

Lenore Puhek said that Tug of War is very popular in Ireland and Europe.

“I think it’s a very interesting sport, and those who are involved with it are looking for people to show an interest,” said Puhek, whose family has been in Helena for over 125 years. “Donal and Connell want to get this into the Olympic Games in 2012, and have been making great strides towards achieving that.”

Puhek’s grandfather, James McKelvey, and the Wards’ great grandfather, Patrick McKelvey, were brothers. James and another brother, Conn, immigrated to the United States in the 1880s. James operated the lime kilns located at the south end of Main Street, where most of the McKelvey family worked up until the 1930s.

James’ son, Tom, was the father of Puhek, Ellen Murphy and Pat McKelvey of Helena, and Sheila Dietzen of Washington. Pat played football for Helena Cathedral High in the early 1960s.

Among the Wards’ other Montana relations is Billie Jo (Enright) Collishaw. Her grandfather, Neil McKelvey, was the pressman for the Independent Record for 30 years. Neil and Tom McKelvey, who were both paperboys for the Helena Daily Independent in the 1930s, were first cousins.

Puhek said that her Irish cousins are great role models. She is one of their biggest supporters in the efforts to bring recognition to their sport.

“These two guys belong on a fire truck ride,” she said. “I don’t know why Tug of War lost favor with the Olympics, but Donal and Connell are trying to get publicity on their side, since it is their goal to be Olympic athletes before they get any older.”

Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net