Nikki Lyons on her way to her Merino lamb shearing record with mentor Dwayne Black. Image – Camilla Duffy.

NEWLY-MINTED world record holder New South Wales shearer Nikki Lyons believes one day a woman will be crowned the world’s best shearer.

The new world record holder – relaxing after shearing 395 Merino lambs in eight hours on Sunday – said she is inspired by the rising number of talented female shearers coming up through the ranks.

“More and more are getting on board; it just impresses me every day.”

Her successful record attempt in a shed at Bowning in New South Wales was verified by the World Shearing Records Society and made her the first woman to set a world record for shearing Merino lambs, and the second Australian woman to set any shearing record.

NSW shearer Jeanine Kimm was the first Australian woman to set an official world shearing record and the first female to do it with Merino sheep, setting a women’s eight-hour Merino ewe record of 358 at a Cassilis shed in NSW in May this year.

4am starts for past six weeks

Nikki Lyons with her family and support team. Image – Camilla Duffy.

Nikki’s mental and physical preparation for the attempt began 18 months ago — after a 10-year break from shearing to start a family – and involved 4am starts for the last six weeks for exercises. Her big team of supporters included shearing trainer Dwayne Black, a mindset coach, personal trainer and nutritionist. She turned her 55kg feminine physique into a more muscular 62kg on the record day.

“That was how much muscle I managed to gain, with the help of (personal trainer) Matt Luxton.”

Nikki’s personal best tally eight weeks before the record attempt was 407 Merino lambs in an eight hour day. She said the Bowning farm manager did a great job preparing the Merino lambs and keeping seed out of their fleeces, and despite unforeseen issues limiting her combing pace, she still managed a lamb every 72.3 seconds. Her light hand enabled her to slide over most wrinkles, but she went through five combs in the last run.

“In the history of my shearing I’ve never gone through five combs in the last run.

“I know in my heart that was a phenomenal effort on those sheep,” she said.

“I didn’t sweat because the lambs would not let me work.”

Attitudes to female shearers need to change

Wrinkles ahead. Image – Camilla Duffy.

Dwayne Black has already promised her he will find the sheep if she decides to try again, but she is now focussing on returning to her normal life and reconnecting with family.

“Clearly, it was a big sacrifice for them, for my kids, today I took them to the coffee shop, we had a hot chocolate, walk to school and I’m sitting at a dog park, there’s something I haven’t done in 18 months.”

The 37 year-old mother of four children – a six, nine, ten and 13 year-old — wants to promote shearing and the wool industry generally and help retain Merinos in the flock.

And she still thinks attitudes to women need to change among some contractors. Twenty years ago it wasn‘t common to see women on the handpiece, she said.

“I was so lucky that somebody took me a chance and let me start shearing, because even nowadays if there is a female learner and a male learner, that male learner will get picked first over a woman.

“I’ve heard it even from some of the most amazing female shearers that travelling around can be hard because unless people know you and you have a reputation, you’re not likely to get a stand.”

Nikki said she clipped the wool off her first sheep — her pet lamb – as a 15 year-old using her mother’s dressmaker scissors.

“That was pretty much make a white patch and make it bigger – I think I had it laid on its side and I started on the edge of the belly.

“I’d like to think I’ve come a long way since then.”

When Nikki first came to New South Wales looking for work she had a list of about 25 contractors, but was lucky if 10 returned her call for work as a shearer. She changed her tactic to simply asking for work to get a callback and then at her first interview disclosed that she was a shearer to increase her chances of getting a pen.

“So I never rousabouted, I was a shocking rousie.”

Nikki invited her first contractor from Western Australia — Aaron Piper of Dinningup Shearing — to her record attempt.

Shearing has gender pay gap advantages

Nikki said shearing’s lack of a gender pay gap puts it at an advantage to the jobs of some of her friends in the public service Canberra.

“Although they are doing the exact same job as their male counterparts, they make $20,000 a year less, just for the fact that they’re female.

“Clearly we don’t have a gender pay gap in the shearing sheds, we just get paid whenever we shear a sheep.”

Nikki believes it’s the increasing independence of women that is attracting them to shearing, even as she sees more men taking on more child-rearing responsibilities.

“Gone are the days when we needed a man to survive; we are doing quite well.

“The men will probably have to lift their game and meet us in the middle there to be honest,” she said.

“It is equalling out, women are working and men are being able to spend more time with their kids; I think it is a cultural change that is really refreshing.”