This past weekend we saw the first official Victorian Weightlifting Association (VWA) novice comp of 2019. The 12 lifters — five female and seven male — competed in a single co-ed session. There were a total of three clubs represented, plus three independent athletes.
There were a few standout performances from these rookie competitors. The most notable were Tamzin Hare and Brendan Sharpe — the pair who won best overall lifters for the day. Tamzin and Brendan lift together out of a Goodlife gym, along with a small crew of new lifters.
With Brendan snatching 100kg and clean & jerking 120kg, and Tamzin going 56/75, the future for these two athletes is bright. We certainly hope to see them back out on the platform again soon.
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Another great story to come out of the day was from Controlled Chaos Weightlifting, which had a total of seven lifters compete within the session (for six of them, it was their first official competition).
For Muntarzir Mehdi, it was his first competition in over 10 years after moving to Melbourne from Pakistan. Muntarzir competed as a junior athlete in Pakistan growing up and was lucky enough to compete at the national level and train alongside some of the best in his home country.
The novice comp provided the perfect opportunity for Muntarzir to get back out onto the platform after a very long hiatus, and to rediscover the sport that he loved. Muntarzir is already looking forward to his next official competition, where he plans to nail that 84kg snatch that he so nearly made on Saturday.
Running novice events helps grow the sport by enticing new, nervous lifters to take to the platform. If you are interested in competing or would like to know how to get involved please contact the VWA for more information.