Geoff Capes interview.

[POWERJIM]

Matthew Pryor shapes up with Geoff Capes

Occupation: British and Commonwealth shot record-holder (71ft 3 1/2in). Champion budgerigar breeder.
Age: 50
Height: 6ft 6in
Weight: 165.4kg (26st)

FROM the world's strongest man to champion budgerigar breeder - have you always been a gentle giant?
I'm a member of the General Council of the Budgerigar Society ...
Why do you laugh?
Well, people laugh because of budgerigars, but if it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't have been as great a thrower as I was. They are the switch-off to aggressive sports. I needed that. I am a gentle giant, in a way, if you get on the right side of me, but don't cross me.
Why has there not been another Geoff Capes?
The manual side of industry, agriculture, mining etc, has declined and most of the throwers came from those sort of places. The people before me - Arthur Rowe was a blacksmith, Jeff Teale was a miner from Doncaster and the tug-of-war champions were all farmers. I'm sure that others are there, but they are directing their strength into things like rugby and other professional activities where financial gain is the reward.
How did you get so big?
Genetically. I was a 12lb 10oz baby. I've four brothers the same size as me - David and Brian were the heaviest twins in England at one time. My grandfather was 6ft 6in and 24st and my mother, in her prime, was 6ft and 20 or 21st. My dad wasn't very big, but was very broad. My son, Lewis, is 6ft 6in and 22 or 23st and my daughter, Emma, who threw for Great Britain juniors and came third in the youth Olympics, is 6ft 1in and was something like 13st when competing. I was 16st at 16, 17st at 17, 18st at 18 and 23 or 24st by 20. I went up a stone a year. It progressed purely on my weight training and the amount of time I spent on it.
When did you start?
I was weight-training at 11. I was already in the local gym when some family friends bought me my first set of weights. I'd already said I would get picked for England - my headmaster said if I ever did anything he'd eat his hat.
You once said of your size: "It's always meant I've been an outsider" - do you still feel like that?
In England, big people do stick out. Look at Wade Dooley or that Italian chap ...
Dallaglio?
Yeah, Dallaglio. They're tall, but if I was playing against them I would be snapping them at the knees. I mean, there ain't a lot to them, is there? There is an element of fear there with big people. I suppose I played up to it, because I did grow my hair really long to look more scary.
What do you think is the biggest myth about you?
That I'm always aggressive and grumpy and I never smile. I have a very dry sense of humour, the Rock of Gibraltar with a pulse. I did 17 pantos, you know. I don't fly any more - I flew all around the world when competing, in track and field and World Strongman, but ever since losing a friend at Lockerbie I fear flying. But someone asked me to judge the South American budgie championships, in Brazil, and I went because I wanted to see the birds in the jungle. But people like to categorise you: Lincolnshire born, Lincolnshire bred, strong in the arm, weak in the head, which I find insulting.
How do you keep in shape?
I don't. I'm a fat man. My friend and rival in France, Yves Brouzet, whose son, Olivier, plays rugby for France, used to be called VVF - very, very fat - and that's me now. I have let myself go, I'm totally redistributed.
Any weaknesses?
Spotted dick and custard.
What do you think about creatine?
It's a extract of red meat. I suppose it's the old adage that you don't take anything that's banned, you try and find something that is equally as good that isn't and take it until it becomes banned. The rules are there not to be broken, but as a guide to what you can and can't do. The hard issue is do you need to take anything at all, where do you draw that line? If I trained six hours a day every day for three months, my muscle tone would be redistributed - that can happen naturally, it depends how much work you put into it.
Did people ever suggest you were on steroids or drugs?
I was taking something that nobody has ever taken, even today and they can only get it here in Lincolnshire - seaweed. Samphire, it's got a very high mineral content and it's widely taken throughout the community in the summer.Stuart Storey, the Olympic hurdler, my coach and mentor who came from the same Lincolnshire village, Holbeach, and I would tell people we were on samphire and they'd write it down without knowing what it was. As a village we've had many national representatives - it could have been either the same milkman or maybe even the water, too.
What's the most you've bench-pressed?
Competitively, I did 585lb and dead-lifted 1,140lb off 12 inches
Proper preparation before a big event is important. crochet before games or vice versa?
It's bull. I was an animal. I remember a very close friend, who's no longer with us, and I were competing in one of my early competitions in White City and about half an hour before the start everybody said, 'where's...'I won't mention his name. So I got on the tube to Lancaster Gate, we were staying at The Windsor, and he was in the room, with the maid. He said: 'Ay lad, I'll come in on the second round'.