It was a wild weekend at the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club for the Oasis team. We had 11 lifters compete across 3 sessions providing a variety of unexpected results through out what I can only explain as a "challenging" day as a coach.
Session 1
Will Mai M73 Snatch 72 76 80x, CJ 92 96 103x
Max Treveton M81 Snatch 66 70x 70, CJ 90 95x95x 160kg total
Troy Pantozapolous M 81 Snatch 70 75 78, CJ 88 94 100x(club make)
Nick Heng M81 Snatch 95x 97 102x CJ 125 130 135
The boys started the day strong when Max successfully lifted 66kg in his first snatch attempt. However, the day became a rollercoaster. Despite missing his second attempt at 70kg, Max made an adjustment and successfully lifted 70kg to complete his snatch sequence. Although Max aimed for a 100kg clean and jerk, he had to settle for 90kg on that day. It's common for life and work to present obstacles for all of us, once things stabilize for Max I'm certain the 100kg CJ is there.
Troy successfully completed all three of his snatch attempts, finishing with a solid 78kg and showing potential for heavier lifts in the future weeks. His clean and jerks were impressive, demonstrating significant improvement in his jerking technique over the last month. Unfortunately, he was penalized for a press out on his 100kg clean and jerk attempt, despite his strong performance.
Representing the Oasis for the first time, Will achieved a strong 4/6 performance. He successfully completed his first and second attempts in both the Snatch and Clean and Jerk, before taking on competition PB's in his third attempts. While the attempts were unsuccessful I believe they're weights he'll likely lift in the near future.
Nick Heng provided a classic Nick Heng performance. After giving me a heart attack during his snatch sequence (eventually going 1/3) he put together a really solid Clean and Jerk session. In true Heng fashion he punctuated the session by executing a beautiful 135kg clean and then decided to honor the Anzacs with a minutes silence before delivering a successful jerk.
Session 2
Brittany Smith F55 Snatch 48x 48x 48x, CJ 64, 67x 70
Bianca Hansen F76 Snatch 84 88 91x, CJ 105x 105x 105
Kaitlyn Patten F87+ Snatch 62x 66 71x, CJ 90 95 100x
If the boys session was a rollercoaster the girls session was a rollercoaster from Dreamworld. Carnage
Britt put on an absolute Snatch clinic in the back room, delivering lifts smoother Loredana Toma. Despite a flawless 45kg final warm up, she then proceeded to build a dumpster fire on the platform missing all three of her 48kg snatch attempts.
Credit to Britt after a few wise words and a pep up she turned it around and in her CJ session as she nailed a crisp 70kg for the 2kg all time PB. Failure is a greater teacher than success and Britt learned today is she has plenty of bulldog in her. The experience provided valuable insights into her character today and she should be proud of herself.
Kaitlyn had a tumultuous week honestly had a pretty solid session going 66/95. Apart from having a brain explosion on her first attempt (dropping the bar before down signal) she put up really solid technical efforts.
Going into the session I had no expectations for what Bianca would produce on the day. We are all well aware of the health struggles she's had in the second quarter of the year but she refuses to let them define her.
An 88kg snatch was a fantastic result, the heaviest snatch she's hit since April. For the CJ's "B" got a case of the dizzy spells. After making 105 cleans look like light work her brain decided it wanted to turn off and she dropped her first 2 attempts. I gave her the option of declining her third attempt but she was determine to take it and pulled off an amazing 105CJ giving her a 193kg total. An amazing effort at 71.2kg bodyweight.
Session 3
Aanikan Jankowiak M109+ Snatch 62 66 70, CJ 72 77 81
Reuben Fevreau M89 Snatch 72 75 78, CJ 102 108x 108x
Ethan McGrath M89 Snatch 82x 82 86x, CJ 105 112x 112
Zoran Jankovski M109+ Snatch 115x 120 123, CJ 160 167x 167x
If you want a dream athlete. Find a kid whose 16 who'll listen to every word you say, follow every instruction you give him and work as hard you ask of him. This is Aanikan Jankowiak.
Aanikan went 6/6 for comp Pb's in his snatch, CJ and total. His snatches were flawless and his CJs (for a kid who couldn't jerk 40kg's prior to this year) were amazing. I don't really have much else to say about Aanikan his lifting will do the talking (because he definitely won't ) over the coming year.
Reuben joined the brain explosion club by also deciding to drop his first attempt before he received the down signal from the judges. As annoying as this is a coach this is why I encourage people to comp regularly. It's important to learn these lessons early in the process so we don't make technical errors when it matters. Reuben walked away with some good lifts and a good lesson.
Ethan did well gaining more exposure to the competition environment. He's made technical changes that stood up under pressure. While he still resorted to some old habits in the snatch, he overcame the stress of missing his first attempt at 82 and set himself up for a good total. In his CJ session he made light work of his 108kg opener. He then became confused and thinking he was at a powerlifting comp Ethan executed a perfect 112kg deadlift. Fortunately his brain turned back on and he rectified this issue finishing with a crisp 112 CJ with his final attempt.
Zoran has asked me to help in out earlier in the week after learning his usual coach Natalia was out of town for the weekend. I'd never worked with the "Raging Bull" before but it was an experience. Zoran came into the competition needing a 290kg total to qualify for the National championship. The plan was to finish the snatch session with around 120 and after pressing out his first attempt 115 he made a nice correction and finished at 123.
Leaving 167 to qualify for the national championships we opened at 160 which Big Z made look like a walk in the park. With 2 attempts left he made a really solid attempt at 167 only for it to unlock leaving it on the platform for another day. Considering the short preparation and an impromptu decision to attempt to qualify for nationals this was an amazing effort.
(Photo's from the session will be shared in the gallery early in the week)
Great work by all athletes