Author Archives: Al Myers

2012 IAWA Worlds to be held in Kansas City

by Al Myers

Chad Ullom and Al Myers will be the Meet Promoters for the 2012 IAWA All-Round Weightlifting World Championships.

Another thing that arose from the 2010 IAWA World Council Meeting was that Chad Ullom and myself submitted a bid to host the 2012 IAWA World Championships – and it was ACCEPTED!!   Chad and I will be co-promoters (meaning that we will SHARE in the expenses!).  We plan to have the Championships the first weekend of October,  which is the traditional date for it.  It will be held in Kansas City, which has a major airport to allow for lifters to fly into the meet without much additional travel.   We have not selected a venue yet.  We are excited about this opportunity and plan to host it in a “FIRST RATE STYLE”.   This location (Kansas City)  is the “center point” of All-Round weightlifting in the United States, and hopefully, will stimulate a big interest in attendance. This is the first time the IAWA World Championships will be held in Kansas.   The entry forms will not be available until after next year’s Championships, but I wanted to announce the date now so everyone will have plenty of time to get this date on their schedule.

Art Montini is presented the IAWA Award of Merit

by Al Myers

Art Montini (center picture) receiving the IAWA Award of Merit. To left is the 2010 IAWA World Championships Meet Promoter George Dick, and to the right is IAWA President Steve Gardner.

One of the HIGHLIGHTS of the 2010 IAWA World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland was when Art Montini was presented the IAWA Award of Merit, a Presidential Award  presented to Art  by our IAWA President Steve Gardner.  This is the FIRST EVER such award ever given on behalf of the IAWA, and it went to the best eligible candidate in the organization.  Art has been to MOST of the IAWA World Championships since the IAWA was formed, and he ALWAYS represents himself in a dignified, professional manner that epitomizes the character of a CHAMPIONSHIP ATHLETE.  Art competes like he is working a job, always focused and performing picture-perfect lifts like they’re just another “task at hand”.  Don’t let his casual demeanor mislead you when he’s lifting – internally he’s as fired up as anyone else!!!

Another thing that impresses me immensely about Art is the passion he still has for lifting.  Art is now 82 years old, but when you are around him it becomes obvious that he “feels” like a much younger man.  I hope that I will have the same zeal for lifting that he has when I’m his age.  He is a great inspiration to me and I’m sure to many others.  He had no idea that he was going to be presented this award, and even when Steve was giving his intro, Art still didn’t think it was about him.  I was sitting right across from him at the banquet and the look of amazement and acknowledgment upon hearing his name called was PRICELESS!!

This is for Art – every0ne in the USAWA and IAWA consider you our  “father figure” in our organization who we look up to.  We are EXTREMELY PROUD that you have received this AWARD OF MERIT!!!! Congratulations!!

Lynch Formula Expanded

by Al Myers

Chris Bass is the "brains" behind the IAWA. Chris is often the official scorekeeper at International Events, and he maintains the IAWA World Record List, which is an overwhelming task. Chris was very influential in helping solve this problem with the Lynch Formula.

A  project that I have been working on for the past several months has been trying to expand the Lynch Factor Chart to allow bodyweight adjustments for heavier lifters.  This has been a big problem with the Lynch Factor Chart in the past – it only went up  to 138 kilograms bodyweight.  This is how it always has been since the original calculations were done.  Nowadays, it is not uncommon to have lifters that weigh over this amount, and NO LYNCH FACTORS have been available for them.  It forced the Meet Director to either just use the highest Lynch Factor available on the Chart, or “make a guess” at a factor for them, either case not being the way it should be done.

Efforts were made to acquire the original Lynch Formula or extrapolate the current Lynch Factors to higher bodyweight factors.  Both of these ideas were unsuccessful – UNTIL NOW!!  I brought this problem up at the IAWA World Council Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and a committee of myself, Chris Bass and Roger Davis were formed to look further into it and find a resolution.  I am glad to say that Roger Davis has found the original Lynch Formula, which the Lynch Formula creator Ian Lynch had given to him many years prior.  Through the works of Roger, he placed the formula in an Excel Spreadsheet and generated the new, higher numbers, which are needed to make the Lynch Factor Chart complete. The chart now goes to 180 kilograms bodyweight, with all the new numbers generated from the same formula that the previous numbers were.  For those interested, the mathematical expression of the Lynch Formula is:

=((75-(39.53-(300/BW)-(3000/(BW*BW))))^(1/3))/(BW-(39.53-(300/BW)-(3000/(BW*BW))))^(1/3)

This is indeed a much more complicated formula than I thought it would be originally!!  I have expanded the USAWA Lynch Formula Chart with the new values.  It will always be  available on the USAWA website – under the  page titled  “Scoring Information”.  I am the type of person who likes to solve problems quickly, and then immediately take action to implement the solution.  So, I presented this to the USAWA Executive Board for approval, which would allow the USAWA to implement this new Lynch Chart right away.  The USAWA Executive Board, of myself, Denny Habecker, Dennis Mitchell, Chad Ullom, and Scott Schmidt,  approved it unanimously.  This means the USAWA, as of now, will use this new Lynch Factor Chart in our scoring.  The IAWA will need a membership vote, which only occurs when there is a World Council Meeting.  This means it may be next year before the IAWA approves this new Lynch Chart, unless a Council Meeting is called for at the 2010 Gold Cup next month.  Regardless, the committee of myself, Roger, and Chris will present it for IAWA approval at the next Council Meeting.

The new Lynch Factor Chart  – Lynch Factor Chart

I want to especially thank the efforts of Roger Davis and Chris Bass.  Without the efforts of these two, this BIG improvement in our scoring system  would not have been realized.

USAWA Records Fall at Worlds

by Al Myers

82 year old Art Montini broke a USAWA Record in the Steinborn Lift with a lift of 143 pounds. This record was previously held at 105 pounds by the legendary lifter and Stongman Ed Zercher I, which was set at the 1988 Zercher Strength Classic.

Only five USAWA lifters attended the IAWA World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, but SEVERAL USAWA Records were set by this elite group.  Twenty one new USAWA Records were added to the USAWA Record List along with several new IAWA World Records.   Dennis Mitchell and Art Montini lead the way with 6 new USAWA records each.

USAWA RECORDS SET AT WORLDS

Lift Lifter Age Wt Cls Record
Clean and Push Press Dennis Mitchell 75 75 55#
Snatch, One Arm, Left Art Montini 80 85 33#
Snatch, One Arm, Right Denny Habecker 65 85 77#
Snatch, One Arm, Right Dennis Mitchell 75 75 33#
Continental to Belt Denny Habecker 65 85 275#
Continental to Belt Art Montini 80 85 165#
Steinborn Lift Denny Habecker 65 85 244#
Steinborn Lift Dennis Mitchell 75 75 93#
Steinborn Lift Art Montini 80 85 143#
Steinborn Lift Chad Ullom ALL 110 440#
Curl, Cheat Dennis Mitchell 75 75 84#
Curl, Cheat Art, Montini 80 85 77#
Press, Dumbbell, Left Al Myers 40 115 88#
Press, Dumbbell, Left Denny Habecker 65 85 66#
Press, Dumbbell, Left Denny Habecker ALL 85 66#
Press, Dumbbell, Left Chad Ullom ALL 110 110#
Press, Dumbbell, Left Al Myers ALL 115 88#
Press, Dumbbell, Right Dennis Mitchell 75 75 27#
Press, Dumbbell, Right Art Montini 80 85 38#
Deadlift, Trap Bar Dennis Mitchell 75 75 225#
Deadlift, Trap Bar Art Montini 80 85 248#

Several record-breaking highlights occurred which deserve mentioning.  Chad Ullom established the USAWA ALL-TIME best lift in the Steinborn Lift with a lift of 440# (200 kilograms).  This also TIED the best Steinborn Lift in the IAWA Record List, which is held by our IAWA President Steve Gardner when he performed a 200 kilogram Steinborn Lift in 1998.  Art Montini broke two USAWA Records held by the legendary Missouri Strongman Ed Zercher.  Art broke Ed’s records in the Steinborn Lift and the Cheat Curl.  Ed Zercher had set these records in 1988.  It seems only fitting that one legend replaces another legend in the Record List.

The USAWA Record Race between Denny and Art is still going strong.  Denny is now at 369 USAWA Records (compared to 365 in July) while Art is still in second with 362 USAWA Records (compared to 358 in July).  Denny did help himself by breaking a record of Art’s in the Steinborn Lift by 1 Kilo in this meet!!  Art’s Birthday Bash and Record Day is coming up, but Art sets a limit of a maximum 5 records set, so if  Denny and Art both do this, Denny should maintain his lead.

Meet Reminder – GOLD CUP

by Al Myers

2010 IAWA Gold Cup Meet Director Frank Ciavattone

The entry deadline is approaching FAST for this years Gold Cup on November 6th.  Meet Director  Frank Ciavattone was very generous in setting the deadline as late as possible, with the closing date being October 23rd.   That is only TWO WEEKS prior to the meet, and should give everyone enough time to get their entry in on time.

The Gold Cup is an IAWA sanctioned event, and rotates between the countries affiliated with the International All-Round Weightlifting Association.  It is quite an honor and opportunity to compete in it when it is held in the States.  It may be several more years before it is again.  Lets take this opportunity and show the Gold Cup the support it deserves and in doing so, demonstrate the strength of the USAWA.

Entry forms are available under “IAWA Gold Cup” in the USAWA Future Event listing on the right column of the website.

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