If you are a fan of the strength sports, then St Stanislaus College’s auditorium was the place to be on Sunday since some of the best powerlifters in the country took the platform to do battle in what turned out to be a record-breaking day.
When the dust settled following the Senior Championships in which each of the 19 athletes pushed their muscle fibres to the max, Vijai Rahim (male overall winner), and Runita White (female overall winner) emerged as the last man and woman standing.
Rahim lifting in the 74kg class, had wilks points of 557.845 after squatting 267.5kg, bench pressing 172.5 and dead lifting 297.5kg for a total of 737.5kg. His herculean bench press and deadlift were both national records.
On her way to winning the overall spoils of the female segment, White, lifting in the 84+kg class, posted a best deadlift of 196kg while bench pressing 75kg and squatting 182.5kg for a 453.5kg total. Her wilks points was 368.106.
On Sunday, White of Buddy’s Gym became the first local woman to squat in excess of 400 pounds without the aid of lifting equipment. While Rahim took the overall title by virtue of recording the highest wilks points, Carlos Petterson-Griffith posted the highest total of the championship with 810kg.
The behemoth lifting in the 93kg class had a mammoth squat of 320kg which got a huge applause from the pumped up crowd. Prior to squatting the weight, Petterson-Griffith also dead lifted 320kg after taking the bench to post170kg in the horizontal posture. His wilks points of 509.004 however, was not enough to unseat Rahim for the overall honours. His squat and total were both national records.
While Rahim, Petterson-Griffith and White were busy setting new personal bests, Junica Pluck was also in record breaking mode. The Space Gym work horse lifting in the 63kg (equipped) division, set national records in the squat (135.5kg), deadlift (133kg), bench press (68kg) and total (336.5kg). Her wilks points, 367.357 was a shade under White’s.
record breakers yesterday included: Blossom Babb Open Classic 84kg Class-Bench Press (65kg), Lisa Oudit Open Classic 84kg Class-Deadlift (151kg) and Total (336kg), Natoya Robinson Open Classic 84+kg Class-Bench Press (93kg) and Deadlift (200kg). Ramzan Mohamed Junior Equipped 120kg Class -Squat (285kg), Deadlift (245kg) and Total (672.5kg). Bjorn Williams Open Classic 105kg Class-Bench Press (150kg) and Total (635kg), Frank Tucker Master 3,2 and 1 Equipped 105kg Class-Deadlift (205kg).
Joseph Stoll Master 2 Classic 105kg Class-Deadlift (200kg). Noel Cummings Master 4 and 3 Classic 66kg Class-Squat (130kg) and Deadlift (170kg) and Franklyn Brisport-Luke Master 2 and 1 Classic 66kg Class-Squat (130kg).
Powerlifting is comprised of three lifts, the squat, bench press and deadlift with the winner of each weight category posting the biggest total in kilos.
The competition which was run by the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) in conjunction with Fitness Express, Dyna’s Embroidery and others, was used a yardstick to select athletes for international competitions next year. The GAPF will kick start next season’s local calendar with the traditional novice competition in early February.
