Competition Recap - Ontario Masters Championships

Guelph Barbell Club attended our first Ontario Masters Championships.  Our Masters team consisted of Jadon, Dawn, myself and of course, coach Adrian. What makes a Master, you ask? In weightlifting, you must turn 30 during the calendar year of the competition. The weight categories are divided into age groups at 5 year intervals, all the way up to 80 years of age. So instead of being the Golden Oldies, we were the #GoldenOlys !

Both Jadon & Dawn have the challenge of a body weight which lies exactly in between 2 weight classes. As a result, both decided to compete at the upper weight class. Myself, on the other hand, preparing for this competition may have been the most challenging weight-cut yet. Apparently, I enjoyed myself way too much during the month of December and it really kicked my ass. Cutting weight is not foreign to me, but it's certainly not easy.

To get down to 75 kg, I had to spend about 2 hours in the sauna the night before the competition. When I got up on Saturday morning, my home scale said 75.0 kg precisely. You never know how close your home scale will be to that of the competition scale, so I opted for not eating or drinking anything until after weigh-ins. Normally, I weigh in in my singlet, but because I knew that I was going to be close to not making weight, I jumped on the scale in my sports bra and underwear. Much to my disappointment, I was over weight! So to make weight, I actually had to strip down and weigh in naked - this was definitely a first for me.

Up first, was Dawn "the Lorax" Larson! Dawn hit her 22 kg opening snatch easily, followed by a 25 kg 2nd attempt. Her final attempt was 28 kg - which is equivalent to the current national record for her age & weight class. Dawn just barely missed her final attempt, but she was so close! 28 kg is not far away for this lifter!
In the clean and jerk, Dawn hit a set a new PR at 33 kg on her second attempt and finished with a 58 kg total.

I was up next, trying to chase my goat, the 60 kg snatch. I hit my opening lift at 58 kg, and instead of attempting the goat for my second lift - coach jumped me up to 61 kg. This was a competition PR lift for me. I missed my final snatch attempt at 63 kg. Coach and I decided to open at 77 kg for the C&J. Although I completed my first lift, unfortunately, I felt my left elbow graze my knee in the catch position - which is an immediate foul. So I had to repeat 77 kg for my second lift.  My second lift was successful, and coach decided to go for 80 kg for lift #3. I had a great  pull but rocked slightly forward in my catch and dropped the weight forward. I finished with a 138 kg total.

Jadon lifted in the last session of the day. He missed his opening lift, but hit 80 kg on his second snatch and hit 83 kg on his final lift. With a slight press out on his first C&J attempt, Jadon reattempted 100 kg on his second attempt. He finished the competition with a 180 kg total and competition PRs for both lifts. Not a bad day at all.

After the competition, we headed out for some well deserved beers and carbs! We were also invited to participate in the Canadian Masters National Championships coming up in April. Two more months of training and Guelph Barbell will be at it again!