Most people know there was a weight room in the basement of the YMCA. The weight training facility was a final result of the weightlifting team that was established there in 1972, the Northwest County Weightlifting Club, of which I was an original member. The team existed until 1986, the last competition attended by a member being the Missouri State Championships at the prison in Moberly. During that time frame the small team from the Y actually was very competitive on the national scene. We placed third at the 1980 National Championships and Olympic Trials. My brother Myron won the National Title that year. He appeared on ABCs Wide World of Sports as a part of their coverage of the 1980 Olympic Trials. In 1981 we won the American Open team title. My memorable experience at the Y occurred in 1981, the Region 8 Championships were held on the top floor of the building. I cleaned and jerked 391 pounds on a final attempt. I was very spent at the completion of the lift, and basically dropped it to the platform. When the barbell hit the platform, I saw the shock wave move through the floor to where I could visualize the support beams under the tile. Someone asked me if I wanted to take a 4th attempt at 400 lbs, I declined. The picture is one of the training platforms in the basement of the YMCA. I will always miss the fact that the Northwest County YMCA no longer exists, it was a part of my life for many years, and I had a lot of good times there.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 14:41:39 +0000
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