A Dundee woman who broke down barriers in women’s strength sports has been remembered as a trailblazer following her tragic death.
Susan Holland-Keen, who overcame mental health struggles to become one of Australia’s strongest women after emigrating Down Under, died suddenly aged 48 on December 13.
The mother-of-three was a well-known figure in the world of strength sports, gaining global recognition in strongwoman competitions, stone-lifting and the Highland games.
Susan passed away from an unknown illness just days before her 49th birthday.
Paying tribute, husband Dr Lance Holland-Keen said his wife was just as comfortable pulling cars, lifting stones and coaching as she was at a rock concert or having a heart-to-heart with a perfect stranger over a pint.
The mother-of-three was born in Germany to Bert, a Dundonian soldier in the Royal Signals, and Rita, before moving to Northern Ireland and eventually to the City of Discovery, where she attended Morgan Academy.
Susan and former Dundee University student Lance first met at the city’s Enigma nightclub in the early noughties while Lance was an A&E doctor working from Stirling.
It was love at first sight, and eventually the pair began going to a gym in Ardler together. Before long, Susan and Lance were as much training partners as they were girlfriend and boyfriend.
They were married in 2002 and moved with daughter Leighann to Australia the following year.
The couple settled Down Under and never looked back, despite only planning to live there for a few years.
In 2006 their son Mason was born. He was followed just 362 days later by his sister Savannah.
Susan at forefront of Australian strongwoman boom
If one thing has united the Holland-Keen family, it is weightlifting; with Susan, Lance and Leighann all competing as strength athletes.
And Susan, who started out in competitions around 2009, was at the forefront as strongwoman events boomed in popularity across Australia.
Athletic from a young age, she was named Australia’s Most Powerful Woman in the masters division on three occasions and was crowned New South Wales’ strongest woman several times.
The couple also coached locals in strength sports and Highland Games events.
Lance, 46, said: “There was no such thing as strongwoman in Australia pretty much prior to 2009. We aren’t aware of anybody else that was competing.
“The fire got lit in amateur strongman in 2008, and then it was amateur strongwoman, and since then it has exploded. But Suze was right at the front. She won the first (Australian) strongwoman competition that we can verify.
“And one of the biggest rivalries was with Leighann most of the time. The both of them would be in the competitions pushing each other on.
“I think another thing she was proud of was just being able to compete. Several times Leighann would compete, I would compete and she’d compete; we’d all be there doing the same competition at the same time.
“So we’d have this support and camaraderie, and that was a big part of it for us. I think we sort of all supported and inspired each other.”
Dinnie fame for the Holland-Keens
During trips back to Scotland, Susan took on many of the country’s “manhood stones” including those at Dalwhinnie and Newtonmore.
In August 2018, the family found themselves in the spotlight when Leighann pulled off an incredible feat of strength in her homeland, carrying out only the second-ever successful lift by a woman of the legendary Dinnie Steens.
Susan managed a “partial” lift of the boulders, and had hoped to return to Potarch one day to complete the feat of strength.
Lance said: “She was very proud of Leighann but she was quite disappointed that she never managed it. She would have loved to go back and do the Dinnies.”
However Lance said Susan also undertook other amazing feats in Scottish stone-lifting.
“They did a tour with her and Leighann together, and there is no documented lifts by other women of many of the stones that they went and lifted,” he said.
“She lifted a lot of the ‘manhood stones’ off the ground.
“Around Scotland I think she lifted most of the stones you could physically expect a very strong woman to do. They are very hard for a bloke never mind a 5ft 2in female.”
One of Susan’s greatest achievements in strength was lifting and walking with the enormous 186kg Húsafell Stone in Iceland in what is believed to be the only recorded effort of the feat by a woman.
Lance said it remains one of his fondest memories – despite her making him move the huge stone several times so she could nail the attempt.
He added: “We almost had a small domestic argument about the fact I lifted this massive stone on to this wall several bloody times.
“She was just absolutely determined to do it.”
Training to overcome PTSD battle
For Susan, who only recently become a grandmother, training was very much a way for her to exorcise demons from her past.
A troubled relationship as a young woman left her suffering from complex PTSD. In 2018, following Leighann’s Dinnie Steens feat, she decided to speak out about her struggles.
Lance said: “She felt very strongly that trying to get stronger physically helped mentally. She became more vocal about it.
“She very much knew that maintaining that physical strength and fitness was an important way to help manage it.
“She hated being beaten by a thing, she hated being beaten by mental health, living with it herself was a big part of it, it wasn’t so much the PTSD.”
He added: “Susan has left a legacy behind as much as Leighann has with all her feats of strength, and forging a way for strong women and talking out about this stuff.”
Scotland, and Dundee, never far from thoughts
After first settling in Sydney upon emigrating from Dundee, the family moved to the suburb of Mount Annan to the south-west of the city six years ago.
However Scotland was never far from their hearts, or their thoughts. Just a few miles from their home are the settlements of Campbelltown and Blair Atholl, and Susan would never be seen attempting to lift a stone without donning some tartan.
Burns Night was regularly observed in the family home despite the January 25 date falling so close to Australia Day.
And homesickness became less of an issue when home came to her; with Susan’s sister and their parents all moving to the Brisbane area a few years ago.
Lance said stone-lifting also allowed her to reconnect with her Scots roots, adding: “Both the girls got bullied when they went moved to Scotland and they had that ‘army brat’ sort of very, very middle-English sort of accent.
“Susan would go to the Oor Wullie books and she used to try and mimic the accent out of Oor Wullie. That got her into a load of strife as well.
“That’s why she connected so much once she got strong enough to be able to lift the stones. Lifting the stones was incredibly powerful for her.”
Susan’s funeral was held on December 30 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Leppington.
Coronavirus restrictions in Australia permitted a stripped-back event to take place at a local pub afterwards, followed by a small gathering at the family home.
An open day at their local gym also took place in memory of Susan, with feats of strength including stone-lifts and vehicle pulls carried out.
Her death prompted a huge outpouring of grief from the strength community across the globe.
Lance said: “She liked to lift, she liked music and she liked to have a beer; and that was my Suze. She would have been your best mate.
“You would have ended up telling her things that you wouldn’t tell somebody you just met. She’d have people telling her things in supermarket queues.”
