It was a weighty weekend in Sicamous as the lifting community muscled in for the Shuswap Showdown.
On Saturday, July 19, at Finlayson Park, athletes from all over B.C. 鈥� and one from Ottawa 鈥� literally put their blood, sweat and tears into the five different events that pushed them to their limits. They started with the Overhead Medley then, with barely a rest in between, moved onto the Yoke Squat, Farmer's Carry, Axle Deadlift and concluded with Conan's Wheel.
How athletes did in each event determined the lineup for the next, with those who came in first and second getting to go last in the next challenge, giving them more recovery time.
Being such a specialized sport with a tight group of people, the camaraderie was evident as shouts of "you can do it" and "one more" filled the park as competitors they cheered each other on. Most of them had also just competed in a Kamloops event the previous weekend, following another in 琉璃神社 in early June.
With peer encouragement, chalk, weight belts and smelling salts for a shot of adrenaline, women lifted up to 365 lbs., while the men topped out at 565 lbs. on the axles.
"Because I can," Vancouver Island's Gerhard Wiese 鈥� who got a spontaneous nosebleed in the deadlift 鈥� said is his response when people ask why he lifts such extreme weights.
That seemed to the be consensus among the group as they all looked forward to the next test of strength, with the B.C. provincials coming up on Aug. 30 in Williams Lake.
