Source: 352 Today
OCALA, FL (352today.com) – After working through the aftermath of Florida’s destructive hurricanes and risking his life to restore power across the state, apprentice lineman Corey Sill has found purpose and pride in his demanding career. Even though the job is tough and sometimes dangerous, he found something he’s really good at – and now he’s using those skills to compete among the best in his field.
Sill’s passion for his occupation is evident from his admission into the Florida Lineman’s Rodeo competition earlier this year.
The rodeo, which pins linemen against each other for a day of competition, consists of challenges that linemen face daily, with a bit of a twist. For the rodeo, speed and finesse play a significant part in winning.
“Speed is not ever a priority… relativity to time and safety is,” he says. “The rodeo is kind of your chance to show speed.”
The first challenge required linemen to change a transformer lead. Sill explained the process as opening the back door of a transformer, lowering it with a telescopic stick, climbing up, and changing the lead. “The easy part is changing the lead… but the prep is definitely the hardest part. They didn’t give us much information about the tools or anything we were required to use. I would say getting prepared for that one was maybe the most intimidating part.”
Sill says that preparing to change a transformer lead felt intimidating, but the 50-question written exam, finished in under 15 minutes, was hardly a challenge.
Sill then described the egg climb, which required him to ascend a pole with the rope of a small bag in his mouth, with an egg nestled in the bottom of the bag.
“There’s already a bag hanging at the top of the pole, so what I had to do was take that one off, drop it on the ground inside of a circle, take the egg out of my bag, put the egg in my mouth, then hang the bag on top of the pole and climb back down.”
“You gotta get dressed, climb up to the dummy, then take the rope, tie it around him in a specific way, and rescue the worker as quickly as possible,” says Sill, who takes inspiration from the journeymen who can rapidly complete the task.
“If you look up videos online, you’ll see some of these guys completing the entire task in 45 seconds, which is absurd,” he says.
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Congrats to Corey and his proud mother, Sara Williams, HR Generalists III at the UF International Center!