2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze from the British Equipped Championships 2017

Swindon Barbell took 5 lifters to the British Equipped championships and came home with 5 trophies:

• 2 British Champions
• 2 Silver Medalists
• 1 Bronze

You can read their stories below

1. Yasmina Couty
2. Christie Civetta
3. Helen Toms
4. Charlie Shotton-Gale
5. Matt Watson

Swindon Barbell Competitors would like to thank Coach Karl Marillier who not only tireslessly helped the entire team but also lent out his skills and time to other competitiors who did not have the support SBB brought along.

Also to Roger Hamilton-Smith who, as Karl did, lent his time and knoweldge to all those who needed some extra support or managing.  Equipped powerlifting is very much a team sport and this team certainly put in its share of work!

Akin Makinde and Joe Humphreys came and gave huge amounts of their time and effort to ensuring SBB lifters enjoyed a smooth and supported competition, espcially as Joe joined the spotting and loading team on the platform.

YASMINA COUTY – bronze, -63k womens

For this first British Equipped championship (I competed unequipped last year), the goals were as follow, with the corresponding results:

Goal 1. Making weight – this was achieved with a successful water load and cut from 65.5 down to 62.55 kg at weigh-in, actually less than expected. With only 1 hour or so to rehydrate and refeed back up to the weight I’ve been training at, I was glad I didn’t feel weak, or experience a major loss in strength and performance.

Goal 2. Making depth in at least one squat – I only started getting the hang of the squat suit 2 weeks prior with the help of Coaches Charlie and Karl. Although with every rep performed in training, confidence gradually increased, competition day is always more stressful: referees need to be convinced that you can sink those squats to give you a white light. Warm-up went very well, managing to hit depth even with lighter weights. Coach Karl and his wonderful knee wrapping, and Coach Charlie coaching me from the side-lines, and putting in my attempts allowed me to achieve 130 kg, 137.5 kg and 147.5 kg, all with good depth and form. And my eyes didn’t pop out of their sockets, so that’s another win.

Goal 3. Getting at least one bench to touch – Coach Karl, following experimenting with the bench shirt’s setup and ceaselessly prompting me to “keep elbow out”, much like the week prior in training, suggested dropping my selected opened from 65 kg to 55 kg. This was a great call, as it touched and went up, keeping me in the game. 60 kg and 65 kg subsequently touched and flew up for more white lights, much to my surprise I must say, at how effective the bench shirt is when used properly. Those elbows out!

Goal 4. Deadlifting without pain – a niggling injury has meant not being able to train my sumo-stance deadlift as much as I should have. The decision was still to be made whether to pull sumo or conventional, as well whether to put a suit on. Since there was only one way to find out, I decided to suit up and pull sumo. The opener increased from 130 kg to 140 kg. It flew up and the suit felt good and helped greatly. 150 kg was next; a doddle. 162.5 was submitted by Coach Charlie, because why not, since I felt pain free and fired-up. It came up, but unfortunately I lost balance at the top, couldn’t rectify my position, and had to drop the bar.

All in all, it’s been a very successful competition with a 362.5 kg equipped total, far exceeding my expectations, and earning me a 3rd place on the podium with great support from both the highly skilled coaches at Swindon Barbell and fellow top lifters.

CHRISTIE CIVETTA – Gold, -72k womens

This weekend saw Christie Civetta gain her first British Champion title in the U72kg class. She had a great competition, successfully making 8 out of her 9 lifts. After a moderate opening squat, Christie squatted 187.5kg, but missed her third lift. Her three benches were quick and easy, bringing her from an opener of 90kg, to her third lift of 110kg. Christie went on to match her all time deadlift PB of 180kg for a total of 477.5kg total. This total is only 10kg under her 84kg weight class total, marking a great beginning to her new class. Christie broke the squat, bench, deadlift, and total records for the South West Division and is looking forward to continue lifting in the 72kg weight class. She will continue to represent Great Britain in the European Equipped Championships in May!

HELEN TOMS – Silver, -84k womens matsers 2

This competition saw my fourth Powerlifting competition in equipment, and one where I had high hopes of doing well. 

In the last three competitions I have had a problem with my squats, missing the first two each time.  I have been working hard on them in the gym, and this time I was determined to get all three. My opener of 140kgs was an easy weight for me, and I finally succeeded in getting three white lights on my first squat.  I continued with 2 more successful squats, ending with a 157.5kg squat personal best, 12.5kg above my previous best. 

Next was benchpress, opening on 80kgs, then lifting 87.5kgs, to give a 2.5kg personal best.  I attempted 90kgs but this didn’t want to go up.  I am happy with these numbers as I was in a new bench shirt, which made a lot harder than the previous shirt, and I had struggled with it in training to make lifts.

Deadlift came last.  In the past 6 months or so I have been struggling with a glute injury, and was nearly back to full strength a few weeks ago, when I pulled it again in training.  As a result I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull a good weight, but it felt fine in the warm up, so I decided to leave my opening weight at 140kgs, one I could guarantee would be a good lift.  As expected it flew off the floor, and so I now had a total.  Whatever my glutes would let me do now would be a bonus.  My second attempt was 150kgs and this went up a little slower, but it went up so I was happy.  Now to be cautious, or try for a personal best in deadlift as well?  I decided to go for it, but my body got the better of me and the bar only came a few inches off the ground.  That’s ok, I pulled better numbers overall than I expected, knocked my first squat demons squarely on the head, and did a better deadlift than I expected.  All in all a very good competition, with three personal bests, squat, bench and total, and new South West division records in my weight and age class. 

Now I’m hoping to be picked to go to the European championships later this year, and am looking forward more fun lifting and refereeing at competitions around Britain.

CHARLIE SHOTTON-GALE – Gold, -84k womens

Charlie, who was looking to defend her title but had to hold back on going hard on the competition as she has the European Classic championships March 16, was happy to be able to achieve another British Championships meaning her tally is now up to 7 equipped titles and 2 classic titles.

MATT WATSON – Silver, -93k Mens

Also lifting at the weekend was Matt Watson. Matt was competing at his first British Equipped Championships and it proved to be a successful outing as he achieved 7 out of 9 lifts, the Silver Medal in the 93kg class and a new PB total.

Matt started his squats on 245kg which was a comfortable opening attempt. 260kg went up smoothly for his 2nd attempt but unfortunately his 3rd attempt of 270kg didn’t go to plan and he missed the lift. 

Bench Press was up next and went well. Matt successfully lifted all 3 of his bench attempts and ended up with 182.5kg which was a new personal best and a South West record. 

Finally, it was on to deadlift, and after an easy opener, Matt hit 247.5kg on his 2nd attempt giving him a 690kg total and the South West total record. Despite this being a tough attempt, for the final lift of the day he went for 257.5kg (aiming for a 700kg total), however, despite a good fight, he wasn’t able to complete the lift and the 700kg total is now the next challenge.