Bomb Squad Olympics
The bomb suit relay and the robot obstacle course are just two of the events you can enjoy starting from today at the Bomb Squad Olympics. Over the next three days squads from across South Carolina will compete and showcase their bomb defusing capabilities for the public. I hear the deep fried dynamite is especially good.
Orangeburg County will host to a rather unusual competition this week. You’ve seen a relay race before but how about contestants running it in a 70-pound bomb suit? That will be one of the events at the Bomb Squad Olympiad* – an event hosted by the State Law Enforcement Division in the town of Bowman this week.
Beginning Tuesday, the event is designed to showcase how bomb squads across the state train to do their jobs. It also helps these same experts practice their skills for the possibility of one day dealing with real bomb threats.
Besides a bomb suit relay, other events include a robot obstacle course and the “Hook and Line” in which a fake bombs are placed inside vehicles and the experts are tested on their ability to remove them.
The olympiad will be at the old Bowman High School and runs through Thursday. Among the groups represented throughout the Southeast will be SLED’s own bomb squad. This is the event’s second year.
Fans of the sitcom The IT Crowd will remember this…
* Yes, yes, an Olympiad is the bit between the Olympics, but they are from South Carolina after all.
Only the septics could dream up something so bizarre …
But, hats off to the blokes who’ll be taking part .. Having been super-fit myself (once upon a time) & having lugged Bergens which often seemed to weigh the same as a loaded “Chacon” .. I can well appreciate what it must take to run for any distance, whilst wearing a 70+ lb bomb suit ..
Just hope its not too hot a day for ’em .. 🙂
Bizarre yes, and strangely compelling. I’d rather go there and mingle with those chaps in the bar afterwards than at the Commonwealth Games. Partially, to be fair, because their bar is less likely to collapse. But for the stories too.