Two former Barry residents broke a Guinness World Record yesterday by pulling a 48-tonne plane over 20 metres in 37.63 seconds.

Sue Taylor-Franklin and Sam Taylor are the definition of a power couple – the strong women came first and second at the Brits Women Masters 2020.

The pair were approached by S4C about breaking records for Saint David's Day with Guinness, and offered the chance to pull a plane.

"Why would you not want to pull a plane?" asked Sue.

"On holiday a few years ago, Sam said 'imagine being the first Welsh women to pull a plane', and it's now a dream come true for us as strong women.

"We're the first married couple to pull a plane, and the first Welsh women to do so.

"It was one of the best days of my life, it was absolutely epic and to do it with Sam, my wife, was awesome.

"We've got such a good relationship within the strength world anyway, to do it with family was amazing.

"Usually we're competing against each other, so that was the first time we've done something together as well," she said.

Sue, who lived in Barry for 38 years before moving with Sam to Llanrumney, holds nine Welsh powerlifting records and two British deadlifting records.

She said the couple had not been able to train at the gym since before Christmas, due to lockdown restrictions.

"People ask what training we did, but how can you train to pull a plane?" Sue said.

"We do stretches, but normally we lift very heavy weights. The strength sport is competitive and it's not about endurance, it's how much can you lift?

"We know we're strong and said 'we can pull a 16-tonne plane' and then we turn up and it's 48.6 tonnes.

"Seeing the size of it was intimidating, but we were determined," she said.

Although some events have been cancelled due to Covid, the couple are looking forward to competitions later in the year.

"On 18 July in Caerphilly is Wales' Strongest Woman – last year we came second and third in that," said Sue.

"We've both been invited to World's Strongest Woman in Florida near Daytona Beach in November, so hopefully that can go ahead," she said.