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Utility worker Kyle Tapp and Duke Energy team to compete in Lineman’s Rodeo Saturday
A Putnam County man and two Duke Energy teammates from Vigo County will compete Saturday, Oct. 13 in the annual International Lineman’s Rodeo in Bonner Springs, Kan.
Duke Energy linemen Kyle Tapp, Greencastle, and Bryan Fry and Jan Newton, both of Terre Haute, will compete as a team in the International Lineman’s Rodeo.
Now in its 35th year, the event attracts the best linemen from around the world with nearly 1,200 line workers competing and being judged on speed, agility, technique and safety.
Rodeo events test job-related skills such as a simulated rescue of a hurt co-worker, repairing damaged equipment and climbing poles.
The annual world competition helps linemen refine their skills and work safer, faster and more effectively to showcase their skills and technique and see how they stack up against their peers.
All Duke Energy participants at the rodeo earned their spots by competing in regional Duke Energy competitions this year.
Line technicians representing Duke Energy’s six-state service area, including Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio and Kentucky, will participate in the apprentice, journeyman and senior team divisions.
An apprentice is a line worker with less than four years of utility experience. A journeyman has greater than four years of utility experience, and a senior journeyman must be older than 50.
The rodeo competition begins Saturday at 7:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time with individual competitors and teams vying for top honors.
The best line workers at Duke Energy and its legacy companies have showcased their talents at the International Lineman’s Rodeo for more than 20 years. Duke Energy line workers took home a record-breaking 18 awards at the International Lineman’s Rodeo last year.