A TEAM of Whitsundays’ powerlifters has blitzed the recent powerlifting championships.
Leanne Knox and her team of powerlifters broke several records at the Australian Powerlifting League Nationals championships, held on the Gold Coast, from June 17 to June 19.
With a life focused on sports, and with a background in coaching gymnastics for 35 years, powerlifting was Leanne’s latest life choice for a sport.
And the choice is paying dividends, as she broke the squat world record and came third in her division, at the championships.
“I broke the Master world back squat record 157.5 Kg and hold all the national records in my age and weight,” Leanne, 49, said.
But this is not the only event at which Leanne has broken records – her perseverance and dedication gained her the world record in powerlifting, two years ago.
For 10 years, Leanne has been coaching weightlifting, Olympics and powerlifting to all ages, from children through to retirees.
Her mother, Ellen Brown, 74, is the oldest of the team – an impressive age to try such a challenging discipline.
“Mum started at the age of 70 and now I think Mum wants to get the world record for deadlift and we’ll aim towards it in the next competition,” Leanne said.
“I just think you are never too old to start weightlifting – all that weightlifting can do is increase your quality of life; even if people don’t want to compete, building your muscle mass and bone mass as you get older is one of the best things your can do for health and longevity.”
Ellen Brown, Rodney Wecker and Ruby Carwardine all competed in more than 200 lifter events and nearly made it to the National records, while Rodney broke both the squat and total world record and came first in his division. With the world championship on the Gold Coast, in November, the team is already preparing for the challenge. Among others, Ellen Brown is hoping to break the world record of 103kg in deadlift.
