Strabane duo seal medals in Rome

TWO Strabane martial artists picked up medals at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation European Championships in Rome over the weekend.

Emma McGlynn picked up a hard-earned bronze medal in her female blue middle class, finishing behind eventual champion Luce Victoria Stubbs and silver medalist, Steph Comiskey, while SBG Strabane coach, Garath Vaughan earned gold and silver medals during a hugely successful weekend.

Vaughan sealed gold in his masters 4 medium-heavy division, submitting the number two ranked brown belt master in the world, Salvador Sanchez Lopes, with a kneebar.

That allowed him to step up to the top class open category, which included three ultra heavyweight entries. Undaunted, the Strabane man impressed throughout to earn silver, losing just the one bout in the decider against Plamen Penev Petrov.

“What a weekend!,” he beamed on a Facebook post. “I absolutely love this sport and I love to challenge myself, so this weekend I stepped onto one of the biggest stages there is.

“I want to thank Lisa Houston for being in my corner this weekend and everything she does around the gym as a member and a coach.

“I am truly grateful and honoured to represent SBG Ireland and SBG Strabane and so thankful to Coach Kvanagh for all the help and advice and giving me the opportunity to train at the best gym around.

“I was so lucky to have my great friend and training partner James ‘The Strabanimal’ Gallagher come home at the best time ever, for the extra hard training and knowledge he has passed on to me the last few weeks.”

McGlynn’s bronze medal success came as a very pleasant surprise to the Strabane woman who suffered a knee injury last year and launched a new business in February, which means she wasn’t as well prepared as many of her rivals.

That didn’t stop the Team Torres member, who put her seven years of experience to good use in three tough encounters to claim a coveted bronze medal that has given her renewed motivation to keep competing.

“I couldn’t believe it and I don’t know what to say because it doesn’t seem really yet!,” she beamed. “To get on the podium at that high a level out there is serious, it’s ridiculous, it’s class!”

McGlynn’s competitive career was somewhat derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which was then followed by a knee injury last August and along with opening a new business, DOGS by Emma, she hasn’t been able to train as much as she would have liked. However, inspired by her coach at Team Torres, another Strabane Jiu-Jitsu star, World Masters champion, Aaron Devlin, she decided to give the European’s a go and that decision certainly paid off.

“I was out for a while with my knee and I opened a new business in February so I haven’t been able to do any full-time training like some of the girls out there were,” she explained.

“I just thought I’d go out and give it a shot, I believed in myself and I ended up getting the bronze medal. I’m third in Europe!”