Strong men Kieran Brown and Clint Taylor have achieved a national ranking after an impressive performance in state powerlifting titles earlier this month.
The Mid Mountains men competed in their first sanctioned powerlifting competition, the GPC (Global Powerlifting Committee) NSW State Titles, on April 9 in Lidcombe.
Brown lifted strongly to rank eighth on the GPC nationals list in the 110kg weight class, while Taylor came in at 13th in the 125kg weight class.
Competitive powerlifting consists of three sections – the squat, the bench and the deadlift.
Both came first in their weight class, Brown lifting a combined squat, bench and deadlift of 755kg and Taylor got to 747.5kg.
Both men battled illness leading up to the competition and minor injuries on the day, but were proud to hit a few personal bests and said their results will motivate them to train even harder for upcoming competitions.
Both have their minds set on competing at ProRaw at Melbourne in March next year, a satellite event of the Arnold Classics which draws powerlifters from all over the world.
Taylor and Brown are now coached by Trent Nguyen, the owner of gym PTC Sydney, and a GPC-ranked lifter himself, and they still regularly attend Anytime Fitness Springwood to train.
Once the other states have completed their state titles, the men will know if they have qualified for the national titles in July.