Giants of the Games - An interview with Jeffrey Duer

I stopped a couple to ask them if they were taking part in the clan battle and that I had noticed that their t-shirts matched many I had seen throughout the day. It turns out that they weren't competing but that their close friend Jeffrey Duer had travelled from the US to participate in his first Scottish Highland Games and that a group of over 20 supporters had travelled with him to provide a fantastic cheerleading squad.

Jeffrey was preparing to compete at the time, but I introduced myself to the rest of his supporters including Jeffrey's brother and arranged to meet up with them after Jeffrey had finished competing to find out more.

I managed to catch glimpses of the heavy competition, but late in the afternoon I had the chance to sit and watch the Weight over the Bar or Weight for Height competition. In this event athletes attempt to toss a 4 stone weight attached to a handle with one hand backwards over a horizontal bar. Each competitor is allowed three attempts at each height before the bar is raised for the next round of competition. The winner is determined by the highest successful throw and in the case of a draw the participant with the fewest misses throughout the competition wins. The athletes competing seems to be fairly evenly matched with all competitors initially struggling to clear the bar but with most getting there on the third attempt. A few gasps were let out from the crowd when the weight appeared to be heading straight towards the competitors head, luckily all of the athletes had good reflexes and managed to avoid being hit. I'm not sure what the winning height was but I did hear at one point that the bar was now above the height of a double decker bus!

This was the final event for the day and would decide the overall winner for the days competition. Shortly after the events drew to a close Jeffrey returned to greet his supporters, after a quick stop to have his picture taken lifting some of the children who had also been cheering him on.

Yes, this is my first time competing in Scotland but I have competing for 5 years back in the US. I compete mainly in my home state of Texas but I do travel a little bit.

Well, through my Mum's side I am a descendant of Clan Colquhoun so we made this trip as a family to come and find out about the history and to come and compete here in the Clan lands of Luss. (Although a descendant of the Colquhoun Clan, Jeffrey competes in the Leathernecks, US Marine Corp Tartan. He does however clan the Clan Colquhoun Crest attached to his kilt.)

A little bit, we took part in the parade this morning.

Oh, it was Awesome. I threw fairly well, I could have done better in some places.

Yeah, I was 3rd overall and in each of the competitions today. To the two I lost to that's okay, they're pretty good.

The Caber and Weight Over Bar.

I usually do better in both of those events so today was an off day. (I suggested that Jeffrey should blame this on Jet Lag!) Yes, exactly! I was the Scottish Games League Amateurs Champion in 2016.

We are here for around another week, travelling a little more in the Highlands and then finishing our trip in Edinburgh.

21, who have all travelled with me from the States.

Yeah, a lot of them do, they travel around Texas to see me.

Well this is it for me here in Scotland but back home I have around 4 in Texas and then I'm doing the Masters (over 40's competition) world championship in Scottsdale, Arizona this November.