Practical Training sessions-video testing option

By Eric Todd

Another change that was made at the national meeting this year was the method by which the practical training sessions to complete the process of being an official may be conducted.  In the past, it has been required for an official in training to sit side by side with a fully certified official to complete three practical training sessions. That method is still an acceptable practice, but now you have the option of doing as few as one in person training sessions.  If a person chooses this method, they must complete a video test for each of the training sessions they did not sit in on.  Each video test has 15 videos of USAWA lifts.  The prospective official will decide if the lift passes or not, and then answers a couple questions about the lift.  The tests are on Google Forms.  Please reach out to me if you would like the video tests to supplement your practical training session(s) in order to complete your USAWA official’s certification process. You can reach me at SalGuimino@yahoo.com.  There are currently 3 officials in training who would be eligible to take advantage of this.

World Postal

By Al Myers, IAWA President

MEET RESULTS – 

2023 IAWA WORLD POSTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Another great year for the IAWA World Postal Championships!!

This year we had 51 lifters compete from the United States, Australia, England, and Canada. This World Postal Championships is one of three (with the World Championships and the Gold Cup being the other two) promoted by IAWA.   I want to REALLY thank all those that participated. Your participation is what makes this a great event!  As per the tradition the past few years, the lifts of the first day Worlds were contested.  I’ve included all class winners and best lifters, individual overall rankings for men and women, 3 person team rankings, and club rankings.

I want to give special mention to the overall winners in each category.  The Overall Best Men’s Lifter was ABE SMITH, and the Overall Best Women’s Lifter was MAX ELL.  The Overall Best 3-person Team went to CLARK’S GYM (Abe Smith, Travis Luther, Tony Hose).  The Overall Best Club went to CLARK’S GYM, which had 11 members participate.   The Overall Best Association went to the USAWA, with the IAWAUK in second, and the ARWF in third.

The youngest lifter that entered was KYRAN VOCE at 5years of age. The oldest lifter in the completion was BILL CLARK at 91 years of age! I want to mention 2 lifters who competed as Exhibition Lifters (because of lack of an official to judge their lifts) just to show support to IAWA and the memory of Andy Goddard.  These lifters were Chad Ullom and Sylvia Stockall of Canada.

If anyone notices any errors in these results please let me know as soon as possible so I can get things corrected.  Sometimes I have difficulties reading the handwriting on the official scoresheets.

Again, I want to thank everyone for entering this meet and making it an outstanding annual event in IAWA.

MEET RESULTS (PDF) – 2023 World Postal Results

Old Time Strongman Championships

By Eric Todd

2023 Old Time Strongman Championship

2023 Old Time Strongman Championship

The 2023 edition of the Old Time Strongman Championship is completed, and the chalk and dust have settled.  It was a classic!  If it weren’t for injury, this would have been the best attended OTSM championship ever.  Unfortunately, Abe Smith and Everett Todd were sidelined by injury, so while we had 13 entries, we were down to 11 competitors.  The best attended OTSM championship was back in 2017, when we had 12 lifters.  At any rate, those competitors did not disappoint.

We had competitors from as close as across the yard and as far away as Pennsylvania, where our President Denny Habecker traveled from.  The age range was thirteen to eighty years old.  The women’s division was deeper than it has ever been with four lifters, and each lifter set or broke 4 records.   We had four former champions contending for another title.  Lance Foster came in at more than 100 pounds less than his top weight, and was competing in top form in a new weight class.

The day started off with the Cyr Press.  This lift is named after top Canadian strongman Louis Cyr.  In the women’s class, Lilly and Stacy Todd tied for top honors with 45 pounds.  Defending champ Pheobe Todd was close behind with 35 pounds, and newcomer Allison Lupo was nipping at her heels with 25.  In the men’s division, I was at the top with 150 pounds.  Tony Lupo, Dave DeForest, Greg Cook, and Denny Habecker all had record lifts as well.

The second lift was the People’s Deadlift, named after legendary deadlifter, Bob Peoples.  Stacy Todd was the top female puller at 300 pounds.  Allison Lupo hit a fourth lift for record at 220.  The men’s division was dominated by former champion Greg Cook, with a pull of 565.  Tony Lupo and Denny Habecker also hit record lifts.

After the second lift, we took a lunch break.  Thanks to Stacy Todd, we enjoyed a treat of pulled pork sandwiches and frankfurter sandwiches, along with chips and such.  It was nice to have the opportunity to eat and enjoy the camaraderie that is so common in the USAWA.

Next, we did the Anderson Press, named after Paul Anderson, who was considered by many at the time to be the strongest man ever.  Stacy Todd was top lady’s presser with a lift of 105 in the meet, and 110 as a fourth attempt for record.  I was top in the men’s division at 300 pounds, with Chris Todd following at 235.  Tony Lupo hit a fourth attempt of 170 to break the record there. Denny Habecker also set a record in this discipline.

It now came down to the last lift of the day, the Anderson Squat, also named after famed American Strongman, Paul Anderson.  Once again, top female lifter was Stacy Todd, with a big squat of 300 pounds.  Lilly Todd set a record of 225 on a fourth attempt.  Top squatter on the men’s side of things was Chris Todd, with a squat of 455.  Tony, Dave, Greg and Denny all broke or set records in their respective age/weight class in this lift.

Once the math was all done and the formulas were applied it was time to hand out awards.  First through third overall were awarded trophies, while everyone else was presented a medal.  This year’s champions were no strangers to winning this thing.  In the Men’s division, Greg Cook won his second OTSM championship, having won before in 2017.  In the women’s class, Phoebe Todd became the most decorated OTSM Champion in history, having now won her fourth.  This surpasses the three won by Heather Gardner and Chad Ullum.  The difference between 3rd and 4th in the men’s division was decided by exactly one point.  You do not get much closer than that.

Official results are as follow:

Old Time Strongman Championship
ET’s House of Iron and Stone
Turney, MO
September 9, 2023

Meet Director: Eric Todd

Meet Announcer: Eric Todd

Score Keeper: Chris Todd

Maker of barbeque and frankfurters: Stacey Todd

The One Official system was used for all lifts

Official: Eric Todd, Denny Habecker

Loaders: all lifters

All lifts are recorded in pounds, as is the total. Adj is the adjusted score after Lynch and Age adjustment.  All records are denoted with an asterisk *

Lifts: Cyr Press, People’s Deadlift, Anderson Press, Anderson Squat

Name weight weight class (kilo) Age Age Division Cyr Press People’s Deadlift Anderson Press Anderson Squat Total Points Place
Women’s
Phoebe Todd 130 60 13 13 *35 *220 *80 *190 525 772.3 1st
Lilly Todd 152 70 14 14 *45 *235 *95 *220 575 728.6 2nd
Stacy Todd 185.2 85 40 40 *45 *300 *105 *300 750 707.4 3rd
Allison Lupo 194.8 90 57 55 *25 *200 *80 *160 465 497.8 4th
Men’s
Greg Cook 247.2 115 66 65 *70 *565 185 *405 1225 1251.6 1st
Denny Habecker 182.6 85 80 80 *50 *325 *125 *240 740 1087.1 2nd
Chris Todd 277.2 125+ 44 40 100 425 235 455 1215 961.9 3rd
Tony Lupo 237.7 110 57 55 *90 *400 *155 *355 1000 960.9 4th
Lance Foster 239 110 57 55 45 315 115 200 675 646.8 5th
Dave DeForest 194.8 90 63 60 *55 315 140 *45 555 624.4 6th
Eric Todd 277.6 125+ 48 45 *150 0 *300 0 450 369.5 7th

4th Attempts for record

Peoples Deadlift

Allison Lupo 220

Tony Lupo 425

Denny Habecker 335

 

Anderson Press

Stacy Todd 110

Tony Lupo 170

 

Anderson Squat

Lilly Todd 225

Virtual/hybrid competitions

By Eric Todd

There were a few changes that were voted on and approved by the membership at the national meeting.  I have planned to outline these in a series of articles, and am just now getting to it. One of those was the allowance of individuals to lift virtually in USAWA competitions.  This is not an option that is allowable for the national championship, but could be an option for any other meet.  That is up to the discretion of the promoter.  For instance, all of the current meets sanctioned by Clark’s gym are hybrid, meaning lifters can lift in person or remotely, whereas the Old Time Strongman meet I am hosting next weekend is in person only.  The idea behind this rule change is that it might increase participation for those lifters that are less likely to travel cross country to meets.  Lifters who lift virtually with no certified official are eligible for meet accolades, but no national records.  Those that are judged by a certified official in a remote location from the in-person competition would be eligible for USAWA national records.  No promoter is required to offer remote or hybrid options, but any who wishes to is welcome to do so.  Any promoter is welcome to ask questions about this rule change via email, the forum, or on facebook. Hopefully it encourages additional participation of members and in turn increases our membership which seems to be on an uphill swing.

IAWA Gold Cup update

apparently, the Gold Cup is a hot commodity this year, which is a fantastic thing.  Because of that, they have had to change the venue for the banquet.  Updated info all below:

 

Entries are now being welcomed for the 2023 IAWA Gold Cup at MetamorFIT Gym, Eastbourne England!

Click Here for the Application Form – Word Format

Click Here for the Application Form – PDF Format

Click Here for the Information Sheet

Please note – Closing Date for entries is Saturday 14th October!

The Gold Cup is IAWA’s annual international record breakers event.

To take part, lifters must be the holder of an IAWA World Record.

Lifters have the opportunity to choose a lift and attempt to break (or set) a World Record in their age and weight class on that lift, but the first attempt has to be for the record. Three further attempts can then be taken.

If successful they receive a trophy based on the theme ‘Gold Cup’ presented at the evening award ceremony.

Lifters also have the opportunity to compete against each other to determine the overall winner (based on Blindt score, age & bodyweight) for the Howard Prechtel Memorial Award.

Usually (time permitting) lifters have an opportunity to attempt a record in a second choice lift.

Please direct any enquiries to the promoter –

Paul Barette – Email iawa@metamorfit.co.uk

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