Thirty-three, that is the number of national records that were broken on Sunday when the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) staged its Raw Nationals Championship at St Stanislaus’ auditorium.
Best lifters overall, Carlos Petterson-Grifith and Keisha Abrigo broke two apiece, while the pair of 16-year- olds, Angel Chappelle and Romeo Hunter set 13 between them, eight for the former and the remainder for Hunter while the pair of Bjorn Williams (three) and 74 year-old Noel Cummings had seven between them.
Romario Gonsalves, Sherene Williams, Yogaishawar Seecharan and Farouk Abdool broke two records apiece while Marlon Wilson accounted for the 33rd.
Living up to his moniker, the ‘Showstopper’, the 93kg Petterson-Grifith set a squat record of 320kg (704 lbs) and also had a mammoth deadlift of 335kg (737lbs), almost four times his weight.
After a best bench of 170kg, (373lbs) he recorded a total of 825kg, (1815lbs) which was also a new national record and good for 107.92 IPF points, the best among all the lifters.
Abrigo was not to be outdone as the 69kg lifter broke the national squat and total records setting them now at 160kg (352lbs) and 415kg (914lbs).
The petite Chappelle was the youngest female on the platform and won the 52kg class and broke almost two handful of records, showing plenty of promise for years to come.
Hunter lifting in the 74kg class had most of the adults in awe by breaking the men’s sub junior and national open records. He had a best squat of 240kg, (529lbs) a best bench of 160kg (352lbs) and a herculean deadlift of 205kgs, almost three times his weight.
He accumulated 605kg (1333lbs) across the three lifts, a total which was also a new record.
Almost all of his lifts were new national records in the men’s sub junior and/or open class.
The championship, the third staged by the federation for the year, attracted in excess of 20 lifters. The next event on the GAPF calendar, the flagship National Seniors Championship, is tentatively set for December.
