Meet Troy, the Aussie strongman who will be kicking off GWR Day celebrations around the globe! Troy can deadlift 310kg, has pulled two prime mover trucks tied together (weighing over 21 tonnes!) and is a self-proclaimed ‘cuddly teddy bear’. He’s raising money for 3 amazing charities as part of his record attempt. Get to know our Aussie GWR Day star.

Full name: Troy Conley
Age: 37
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia

 Hi Troy! Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m an Australian strongman and I just LOVE lifting, carrying and pulling random heavy things – not sure there are too many people who drive around with a rope, harness and truck pulling shoes trying to find trucks to pull.

Tell us about the record you’re trying to achieve.

I am going for the record, most cars pulled by an individual (male). I will be attempting to pull 16 Huyandi cars on the Southern Runway at Bankstown Airport at 6:30am on 18 November. The current record is 15 cars and was achieved in 2014. 

You’re going for this record on Guinness World Records Day (GWR Day ) next Wednesday, 18 November … does that make the attempt even more exciting?!

Absolutely! Guinness World Records is the benchmark when it comes to world records so to be the one responsible for kicking off such a prestigious day is a true once in a lifetime honour.

We know you’re doing this for a good cause – can you tell us about why you’re doing this and the charities you’re supporting?

I’ve teamed up with Hyundai Australia and Hyundai Help for Kids to help raise funds via GoFundMe for 3 of their charity partners, Little Wings, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RHMC) Australia and Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation. These 3 charities work very closely together to help look after seriously ill kids and their families, in particular Little Wings who fly them in from country and rural areas to Sydney for treatment.

For me, it’s quite a personal connection to RHMC and Sydney Children’s Hospital as when I was just 4 years old the chain came off my bicycle and I ended up riding it into a wheelbarrow handle the day before Mother’s Day. This ended up rupturing my left kidney and it eventually had to be removed. Over the course of the next 3 years I spent A LOT of time in and out of the Children’s Hospital at Camperdown where, thankfully, the doctors saved my life. Miraculously, my kidney has since regrown to full size!

My GoFundMe page is up and running and at the time of this interview, we’re already raised over $3,500…that’s before I’ve even attempted the record! 

What inspired you to attempt to become a Guinness World Records holder?

Heaviest aircraft pulled by an individual (male) record-holder, Kevin Fast

The legendary Reverend Dr Kevin Fast started it all for me. Before strongman came into my life I was quite overweight and unfit so I decided something needed to change and I decided I wanted to pull a plane, not just any plane though… an A380. So after some YouTube searches and Googling, I came across Rev. Kev’s incredible Globemaster C-17 Pull (heaviest aircraft pulled by an individual (male)) and that ended up sparking a love affair with strength training. He is the current record-holder for the record I am attempting. I have the chance to connect with Rev. Kev before the event to get his blessing and spiritual strength. I know this is something I’ll always treasure.

We heard you’ve been training for this for a while now. Can you tell us about the training you undertook to prepare?

I’ve been strength training for almost 8 years now and the last 5 months’ training has been very specific to this Guinness World Records attempt. It’s 4 days a week in the gym building up the basics – squats, deadlifts and overheads with weekly heavy sled drags and of course, me being me, some bonus truck pulls including a 20-tonne Kenworth truck and trailer and a very important testing day with Hyundai trying out 8 cars to get a feel for what to expect on the big day (and also to make sure it’s something I felt was achievable).

Can you tell us about the application process; what’s it like applying for a record?

Honestly, it’s probably harder than the attempt itself in some ways, there are a lot of moving parts involved – especially for this record where we need quite a lot of ground (125metres) just for the physical attempt. Thankfully, Guinness World Records make it all easy and straightforward. I’ve been supplied multiple checklists and updates as things have progressed, the adjudicator has been great in getting back to me with answers on rules we needed clarification on. Guinness World Records are very thorough so that everything is fair, above board and done in such a way that ANYBODY in the world can go out and break it! 

If you do set the record, will you go for another one? Which one?!

100%. It’s something I talked about with Rev. Kev as he’s held the mantle for some incredible feats of strength with Guinness World Records – everything from heavy plane pulls, truck pulls and even pulling a house on a truck. It would be an absolute honour to try to continue his legacy as he was about the same age as I am (37) when he first started breaking records and it’s always been to raise money and awareness for those far less fortunate, so to follow in those footsteps would be quite fulfilling. Like I said earlier, this all started 8 years ago, wanting to pull a plane, so ‘world’s heaviest plane pull’ would be incredible… perhaps as part of the Royal Australian Air Force’s Centenary celebrations in 2021 and we could raise some funds for our incredible Veterans…

If you do set the record, what will it mean to you to be an official Guinness World Records holder?

I think it will take a while to sink in, there’s so much that goes into an attempt like this, all the hours training, sleeping, eating, stretching, not going out because you have an important training session the next day etc. so there’s a lot of sacrifices I’ve had to make along the way. My close friends and family have also made sacrifices, so this record is as much for them and repaying the faith they’ve had in me.

If you don’t set the record, is there anything you’d do differently to prepare?

Gotten stronger! (laughs) I feel like my training has been as good as it could have been, so when the big day comes I’ll either be strong enough or I won’t. If I’m not, then it will be back into the gym and keep building the strength – if it was easy, it wouldn’t be so special and meaningful.

Do you have a message for people out there who are considering trying a new or exciting feat on GWR Day?

Don’t think about it – act on it, go and do it. There will be people that say ‘you’re crazy’, ‘you can’t do that’, ‘why would you do that?’. Forget about them, you don’t need that negativity.

Dare to dream BIG, so BIG it actually scares people.

In all my years of training I have never regretted going for something and missing. You’ll achieve far more chasing after your goals than you’ll ever achieve sitting there wondering if you can.

Troy is kicking off Guinness World Records’ 24-hour record-breaking marathon as part of GWR Day. 

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Day (GWR Day) is an annual celebration of record-breaking, a day which sees thousands of people around the world come together with one common goal, to become a record holder.

First held in 2004 to mark Guinness World Records becoming the bestselling copyright book of all time, GWR Day is now a much-anticipated event each year that has inspired some iconic record-breaking achievements. So whether you have a desire for adrenaline, knowledge or finding your limits, we’re encouraging everyone to take part.  GWR Day 2020 is taking place on Wednesday 18 November

Need some inspiration? Get your copy of Guinness World Records 2021 now! Who knows…maybe you and your record will be in next year’s book?!