Winnipeg-based Royal Canadian Air Force firefighter Evan Yaworski won the title in the World’s Strongest Firefighter competition in March, bringing home a historic win not only for the city but also for the country.

The 2026 World’s Strongest Firefighter competition took place in Columbus, Ohio. It welcomes firefighters from around the world to compete for the title in challenges such as carrying hydrants, lifting ladders and even pulling a truck with a harness and rope for 50 feet.

“It’s an interesting feeling, going from such a high of competing on a stage like that, and then going back to regular life the following week. So, it was more of an emotional rollercoaster than I was expecting,” said Yaworski about his accomplishment.

Yaworski admitted that his nerves crept in before the opening event, but once the first event was done, something clicked in him. “It primes your body for the rest of the events,” he said. “You just get into a groove for the competition.”

Yaworski’s journey to the championship was not a short one. Originally from Saskatoon, he first joined a firefighting college “on a whim,” feeling like it was something he could do. He wanted to pursue aircraft rescue firefighting when he laid eyes on the firetrucks and then joined the military in 2017.

In 2024, Yaworski relocated from Edmonton to Winnipeg, working on a crash response base. Yaworski sometimes spends his shifts only training, maintaining trucks and testing fire alarms, but he reflected on the challenges and risks of firefighting.

“Highway accidents [and] medical calls for mental health, those kinds of situations […] can be quite stressful. There’s a lot of unknown, a lot of factors to consider there, but it’s what you train for,” he said.

Yaworski also highlighted the overlap between competition and firefighting. The same fitness and athleticism nurtured through competing carry over to firefighting, and the composure required for high-stress emergency calls translates to the mental strength needed in sports.

Yaworski aims to continue competing this year and return to the Arnold Sports Festival in 2027. Impressively, the strongman does it all himself, creating his own program and occasionally drawing perspectives from those around him, including his wife. “She approaches training differently than I do,” he said.

When asked if there’s anything he would go back and change in his firefighting and strongman careers, he stated, “I don’t think I’ve experienced something yet where I’ve gone back to the hall and was regretful for how it went.”

Yaworski stressed the value of persevering through hardships and seeing where it leads you.

“When things are tough, they won’t always be tough, so you just have to endure it, make the best of it and come out on top […] At the end of the day, what I find most motivating is getting up to what I think my potential is or surpassing it,” he remarked.

“When I started this part, I never thought I would be a competitive person on a world stage. I just started one thing at a time, eventually more opportunities came, and that kind of thing is pretty motivating.”

Yaworski shared a piece of advice for U of M students.

“Try something new. You never know where it’s going to take you.”