Dear Members and Friends of the Canadian Powerlifting Union, It gives me great pleasure to report to you the recent accomplishments of our Canadian lifters at the 12th IPF North American Championships held in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. For most on this team, this was their first experience travelling out of country to wear the Team Canada uniform. This isnt an easy thing to do. Air travel, connecting flights, strange beds, bad breakfast buffets, the nerves, making weight and lost luggage can all remove a piece of a lifters effectiveness on the day that it really matters. So, how about we add a power failure, a late start, no air conditioning and tropical heat and humidity to the mix. This was the meet day faced by Jill MacFarlane, Joanna Rieber, Linda McFeeters and Rhea Stinn. So how did our Canadian women handle these extremely tough conditions? Gold medals for all. Jill MacFarlane started the day for Team Canada with her gold medal performance in the 47 kg Classic division. Given the conditions, Jill put in solid effort going 6 for 9, posting a total of 222.5 with a Wilks score of 300.152 while gaining valuable international experience. Congratulations Jill. Well done. Joanna Rieber is a relative new-comer to the sport with this championships being her first international competition and only her 5th meet. Joanna faced a tough day with the high heat and humidity taking their toll. Regardless, Joanna is a determined competitor who sets very high standards for herself. Joanna stepped up and posted a PB total while recording the second highest female Classic Wilks at the championships. Joanna also won the gold in the 52 kg Classic division. Pretty amazing for someone who has been lifting slightly more than one year. Well done Joanna. Linda McFeeters is an absolutely fierce competitor. Anyone who has seen the look in Lindas eyes as she sets up for a deadlift will understand what Im talking about. Linda posted PB squats, a PB total and PB Wilks on her way to win gold in the 72 kg Classic Master 2. This championship was also Lindas first international competition and only her 8th meet. Amazing progress and an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations. For Rhea Stinn, it was an epic day. She hit a HUGE total of 477.5 in the 72 kg Classic division winning gold in the process. Rhea also won the Best Classic Female Lifter Award and recorded the highest Female Classic Wilks (472.248) in CPU history. Rhea also set four National Records in the squat, bench press, deadlift and total. Rhea continues to set the the gold standard in the CPU for male and female lifters, classic or equipped. An incredible display of world class powerlifting along side the amazing performances of all our Canadian women. Congratulations to each of you. I truly hope you are proud. Aaron Hopkins lifted as Sub-junior in the 66 kg Classic Division. Prior to reaching the platform, Aarons travel agent flew him to the wrong island, he had to arrange for a seaplane to get to St. Croix, his luggage went missing including his lifting gear, he was 7lbs heavy 36 hours out, barely made weight, lifted in Joannas pink lettered singlet, Lindas silver squat shoes and hot pink laced deadlift shoes while using Rheas belts. Aaron still managed a Silver Medal in the Sub-junior 66 kg Classic. An absolutely amazing display of focus and composure for a 17 year old lifting at an international championships. The final day of the meet saw Ryan Lapadat, John MacDonald and Ryan Stinn take to the platform. Ryan Lapadat lifted in the 105 kg Classic division and put in a solid performance finishing the day with a total of 665 kg and Wilks score of 407.379. The NAPF Championships was Ryans first international meet as a member of the CPU. In addition to winning the gold medal, Ryan also received Best Lifter honours in the Classic Open Division. Well done sir. In the Equipped 120 kg division, John MacDonald faced some very tough, very experienced competitors. Anthony Harris from the United States and Carlos Rivera from Puerto Rico are seasoned, world class lifters who arent accustomed to placing second. John had a tough battle right through to the final deadlift. When the chalk dust settled, John got to take the top step on the medal podium, winning the gold by a margin of 5 kg over Carlos Rivera. John posted an excellent total of 952.5 kg with a Wilks score of 548.46. Included in his gold medal performance were two new National Records of 280 kg in the bench and 952.5 kg in the total. John also received the Best Lifter Award Open Equipped. John continues to add to his reputation as being one of the best of the best. Congratulations and well done. Ryan Stinn represented Canada while lifting in the Equipped 120+ division. Ryan faced tough competition from Lazaro Nieves of Puerto Rico. Ryans squat of 365 kg (a new National Record) gave him a 15 kg advantage over Lazaro which Ryan never relinquished throughout the meet. Ryan added 2.5 kg to his lead during the bench with a lift of 267.5 kg. Ryan put in very smart attempts through the deadlifts on his way to winning the gold and posting an excellent total of 950 kg and his second National Record (Total) for the day. It must be mentioned that throughout the championships, Ryan stood in as coach and supporter for his team mates. Anyone who has stepped up as Ryan did appreciates the difficulties in putting in a world class performance under difficult international conditions after being the anchor for a good part of the team over multiple days. On a personal note, Ryans total was a PB total that was two years in the making. That kind of protracted and dedicated effort nicely sums up what our sport is all about. Fantastic lifting by a true ambassador of the sport. At the risk of stating the obvious, Team Canada had a fantastic meet. A small but remarkable team of 8 lifters put in their best efforts on the day it counts under very difficult conditions and produced truly remarkable results. To summarize: Three Best Lifter Awards 7 Gold Medals 1 Silver Medal 8 National Records Not all of us in the CPU aspire to international competition though I hope some of you are inspired by this group and aim to set your goals most high. Those of us that have had the chance to travel, step on the platform and represent Canada know what an incredible and life changing experience this can be. Two things stand out for me in my memories of international competition; the terrific friendships that where formed with my team mates and with others from around the world and the rare and moving experience of standing on the top step of the medal podium while listening to our National Anthem. These are experiences I wish all who lift could share. Let me tell you these experiences are worth the time and effort. I know this team feels the same. Best regards, Mark Giffin, President, Canadian Powerlifting Union
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:44:15 +0000
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