Dauphin Herald june 11/2010

By Doug Zywina Dauphin Herald Staff
The first-ever powerliftingcompetition in Dauphin turned into arecord-breaking event astwo new provincialrecords were set in thebench press.Dauphin’s TravisBloomer, competing inthe open age category, seta new standard in the125-and-over weightclass with a lift of 230-kilograms or 507.1-pounds. He broke hisown record, setting theold mark of 485-poundsin October 2009.“It feels pretty good toget the 500-pound monkeyoff my back,” Bloomer said.“I’ve been trying toget to 500 pounds forthree events now, so it’s nice to finally get it.”Bloomer’s focusentering the event wassimple - get three successfullifts in each event.“To kind of build upmy squat and my bench,”he added.“My deadlift shouldbe my bread and butterevent.” Win Of Winnipeg, competing inthe M1 age category, seta new record in the 125-kg weight class with a liftof 275.5-kilograms or606-pounds.He failed in an attemptto lift 292.5-kilograms or643.5-pounds.Win said he drewsome inspiration from a lifter in Ontario.“There’s a guy out in Ontario who’s done 290(kilograms) and he’s the same age as me. And I wanted to go 290.5. But because we don’t have the judges, they made me go up to 292.5 and it was too heavy,” he said,adding it feels good to have a provincial record under his belt.“I’m happy. I’m having fun. I encourage anybodyto come out a try.You’re always going against yourself.”
Organizer and local competitor Ed Dufou rwas pleased to see 10 athletes register to compete in Dauphin.“It was a pretty good turnout for our first contest.I think it was pretty successful. Everyone had positive things to say about it and it ran pretty smoothly for our first time putting one on,” he said, adding three competitors were from Saskatchewan, two camefrom Portage and two from Winnipeg. Dufour, Bloomer and Shaun Caruk made up the local contingent.Bloomer won the Best Lifter award, based on body weight to weight lifted ratio. Ryan Espey of Portage won the BestBench award, which is based on the same ratio.Dufour appreciatedthe efforts of the volunteers who showed up to help with the score table,as well as spot the lifters and load the weights.
Dufour noted Win is the first Manitoban toever bench more than 600-pounds.Overall, Dufour was pleased with the event,which he hopes to make it an annual event.“We’ve been talking around the idea of hosting a powerlifting and strongman event in oneweekend. That could be a plan for the future. We’ll see how things come together,” he said.Anyone interested intaking up powerliftingcan contact Dufour at638-1588 or Bloomer at 638-8501. You can alsoemail Dufour at hfleming@mts.net or Bloomerat tbloomer@mts.net.