SSG Junior Powerlifters (L-R) Dan O’Dempsey (3rd 105-J), Paige White (1st 84-SJ) and Madelyn Harp (2nd 84+J) at the Powerlifting Australia Junior & Masters Nationals.
Strength Sports Gym took 3 Sub-Junior and Junior powerlifters to the recent Powerlifting Australia Juniors & Masters nationals held at the Arrow Hotel in Melbourne from the 22nd to 24th of August.
With fantastic training cycles under their belts, our 3 representatives took to the platform on the final day of competition, all lifting in the same session.
You wouldn’t know that Paige & Maddy had only competed in Powerlifting Australia just once before this big competition, as they displayed confidence and determination beyond their years.
Paige had been with SSG and coached by Nick for just 3 months going into what would be her second powerlifting competition.
Upon joining SSG, it became clear very quickly that we needed to overhaul and improve Paige’s technique and form with all her lifts, to ensure that she reaches her full potential with powerlifting and help her achieve her goal of setting new Australian sub junior records.
We know that perfecting technique is never achieved in one training cycle, so we placed an emphasis on improving across every training session.
62.5kg Bench – New Sub Junior Australian Record
Paige went 3 from 3 in her squats, with all 3 attempts being new sub junior national records, finishing with an easy 122.5kg squat for a massive 20kg competition PB!
Following on from her successful squats, Paige also went 3 from 3 in her bench press, finishing with a 62.5kg lift, earning her another sub junior national record.
In the same manner as Paige’s squats, all her deadlifts were new sub junior national records, finishing with an incredible 170kg lift!
Not only is that a new national sub junior record, it is also the new junior record, and only 10kg off the IPF sub junior world record!
Paige White, about to deadlift 170kg.
This perfect day of lifting gave Paige a total of 355kg for a new sub junior record total, and an improvement of 47.5kg on her total.
This also gave Paige 1st place in the 84kg division.
Click Here for video of Paige’s lifting.
This was also Maddy’s second powerlifting competition, training at SSG under the guidance of coach Benji McMaster.
Maddy came into this competition aiming for big personal bests on each lift, and her great training cycle gave every indication that this was going to happen.Maddy’s squats have improved greatly, though after failing her 2nd attempt of 137.5kg on a technicality, Maddy showed great determination to increase her 3rd attempt by 10kg, finishing with 147.5kg (34.5kg PB).
Maddy Harp preparing to deadlift 160kg.
Bench up next, and Maddy finished with 2 from 3 attempts with a best lift of 77.5kg (7.5kg PB).
Sitting in 3rd position coming into the deadlifts, Maddy needed to deliver a flawless performance to earn 2nd place, and that she did!
Maddy went 3 from 3, finishing on 160kg (20kg PB) for a massive total of 385kg, earning Maddy 2nd place.
Click Here for video of Maddy’s lifting
Dan hadn’t competed since October of 2013, where he totalled 600kg in the 105kg division.
Dan’s training gave every indication that he had a real chance of ending up on the podium, should he execute his game plan well.
Dan 245kg Third Attempt Squat
Dan let his presence in the junior 105kg division be felt when he came out for his third attempt squat of 245kg, just 7.5kg below the current Australian junior record.
After dominating all 3 squat attempts and finishing with the 245kg lift (25kg PB), Dan had a 10kg lead going into the bench press.
Dan put up 145kg (5kg PB) on his second attempt, after a very easy opener of 135kg, and he went oh so close to getting 150kg on his 3rd attempt, but it wasn’t to be.
This put Dan into 3rd place going into the deadlift.
After pulling 230kg on his opener, Dan pulled a strong 250kg (10kg PB) on his second attempt to put himself into 2nd place going into the final round of deadlifting.
The competition was insanely tense, as the final attempts of the top 4 lifters would determine who would stand on the podium.
After alot of tactics with 3rd attempt selection it came down to Dan pulling 260kg to take the lead after slipping to 3rd, with 1 lifter left to lift.
Australia’s Best 105kg Junior Lifters (L-R) Jay Rovacsek (1st), Rex Parsons (2nd), Dan O’Dempsey (3rd)
After a valiant effort with 260kg, Dan just didn’t have enough in him to complete the 260kg lift, leaving it up to the national deadlift record holder in Jay Rovacsek to pull 283kg to secure him first place in a division where just 5.5kg seperated the top 3 totals.
Dan finished with a 640kg total (40kg PB), which earned him 3rd place in the junior 105kg division.
Click Here for video of Dan’s lifts.
Photos from the event Click Here
Full competition results Click Here