Record-breaking Welsh shearer Lloyd Rees now aiming for world championships

Welsh shearer Lloyd Rees has his eyes set on the world championships after shearing 902 lambs in 9 hours. 

Mr Rees broke the British record a week after English shearer Nick Greaves had set it. 

The 28-year-old has raised more than 10,000 pounds for charities Parkinson’s UK Cymru and the Welsh Air Ambulance Service.

“It was a good opportunity to really push myself, test myself, see what I could achieve,” Mr Rees said. 

“My travelling days are starting to wind down, so I thought I’d like to go out with a bit of a bang.” 

The record has made a mark on the world stage. It was the most sheep shorn in a record attempt.  

‘A mammoth effort’ 

This British record will not be counted as a world record due to a difference in criteria.  

World record rules require top-knot and head-wool, whereas British records take into account the lesser amount of wool on UK breeds. 

“They had enough wool weight, but they need a little bit of wool on their heads to pass for world record lambs,” Mr Rees said. 

David Brooker, who is involved in Sports Shear Australia and is on the World Records Committee, said record or not, it was an impressive feat.

“These kids that do world records, male or female,  put themselves to the test that’s superhuman,” he said. 

Ivan Scott from England holds the world record for shearing 867 lambs solo in 9 hours in 2016.

Meanwhile, British woman Marie Prebble set a new eight-hour solo record for women shearing strong wool ewes. She managed to shear 370 sheep.

World championships 

Mr Rees has been shearing for over a decade and has spent 10 seasons in New Zealand. 

“I’ve also been to Norway once, and I’ve sheared In Switzerland quite a few times,” he said. 

Now he is changing his focus back to show shearing, with his eyes also set on the competitive world stage. 

“That was my passion really before the record,” Mr Rees said. 

“The world championships is the dream, and recently, it’s been New Zealand, it’s been in France and going back a few years, it’s been in Norway.

“The next one is in Edinburgh. It’s pretty exciting.” 

The 2023 World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Scotland in July is the first time they have been held since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In Australia, competitive shearers are gearing up for the competition.

“At the moment, we’re preparing teams, state teams to go to Bendigo in October,” Mr Brooker said. 

“Then we’ll select our two machine shearers, our two wool handlers and our two blades shearers, and with a couple of judges and a manager.”