Prayer and/or thoughts

By Eric Todd

Our brother in iron, Frank Ciavattone, and his bride Colleeen Lane Richards could use your thoughts and/or prayers, depending on where you reside on the belief side of things.  Colleen is suffering with some liver/pancreas issues in relation to her cancer.  They are treating her, and as of this morning, she was not responding. According to Frank, she is hanging in there bravely.  You all know Frank and the burly, strong, heavy lifting machine that he is, and you know that when a strong man is sitting by his struggling wife’s side, it is hard to maintain that strength.  Please rally behind these good folks and offer what you can in the way to thoughts and prayers.  They could really use them right now.

ET

2022 Second Quarter Postal

We had very good participation again in this year’s Second Quarter Postal, with 24 men and 7 women competing. Abe Smith topped the men this time with  Beth Skwarecki leading the women.

2nd Quarter Postal – April 1 thru June 30.

Records are marked with an *

Lifters marked with a # sign are Canadian, thus not eligible for USAWA records a

The Lifts – Crucifix, Curl, Strict, Deadlift, No Thumbs

MEN’S DIVISION :

Abe Smith             – 40   – 185 Lbs. – 90 Lbs* – 115 Lbs*  – 470 Lbs*   – 675 Lbs. – 637.09

#Lucas Hardie         – 38    – 198 Lbs. -90 Lbs    -100 Lbs    – 475 Lbs    -665 Lbs   -596.90

Nicholas Frieders   – 21   – 153 Lbs. – 60 Lbs.  – 95  Lbs.  – 405 Lbs*   – 560 Lbs.   – 588.56

John Carter           – 63   – 216 Lbs. – 60 Lbs.  – 90 Lbs*   – 400 Lbs*   – 550 Lbs   – 584.40

Randy Smith         – 67   – 199 Lbs. – 57 Lbs.  – 95 Lbs.  – 355.5 Lbs.  -507.5 Lbs. – 582.30

Dave DeForest      – 62   – 187 Lbs. – 50 Lbs*  – 90 Lbs*   – 350 Lbs*  – 490 Lbs.   – 559.72

Talon McPhee       – 29    – 207 Lbs  – 80 Lbs   -111 Lbs    – 440 Lbs    -631 Lbs     – 552.82

Dave Hahn           – 85   – 142 Lbs. – 20 Lbs.  – 60 Lbs.   – 210 Lbs.    – 290 Lbs.   – 532.09

Eric Todd             – 47   – 267 Lbs. – 130 Lbs* – 135 Lbs* – 375 Lbs*  – 640 Lbs.   – 530.77

Barry Pensyl        – 74   – 141 Lbs. – 38 Lbs.*  – 57 Lbs.*  – 231 Lbs.* – 326 Lbs.  – 521.68

Al Myers             – 55   – 228 Lbs.  – 50 Lbs.* – 110 Lbs.* – 375 Lbs.* – 535 Lbs.  – 516.46

#John Gordon       – 28   – 187 Lbs   – 70 Lbs    – 96 Lbs      – 385 Lbs    -551 Lbs  – 511.00

LaVerne Myers    – 78   – 220 Lbs.  – 30 Lbs.   – 90 Lbs.*   – 265 Lbs.* – 385 Lbs.  – 496.30

Denny Habecker – 79   – 187 Lbs.  – 40 Lbs*   – 66 Lbs.*   – 231 Lbs.  – 337 Lbs.   – 481.97

Tony Lupo          – 56   – 237 Lbs.  – 40 Lbs.   – 90 Lbs*   – 350 Lbs*   – 480 Lbs.   – 457.98

Wade Marchand – 52   – 161 Lbs.  – 66 Lbs*  –  88 Lbs*   –  242 Lbs*   – 396 Lbs.  – 455.17

Chad Ullom       – 50   – 235 Lbs.  – 20 Lbs.   – 85 Lbs.    – 385 Lbs.    – 490 Lbs.   – 445.51

Jarod Fobes      – 45   – 209 Lbs.  – 72 Lbs.   – 95 Lbs.    – 300 Lbs.    – 467 Lbs.    – 431.65

Sanjiv Gupta    – 51   – 194 Lbs.  –  40 Lbs.  – 87 Lbs.    – 283 Lbs     – 410 Lbs.    – 417.45

Chris Todd       – 42   – 274 Lbs.   – 80 Lbs.  – 105 Lbs*  – 335 Lbs.    – 520 Lbs.  –   406.25

Everett Todd    – 9     – 76 Lbs.    – 16 Lbs*  – 22.5 Lbs* – 100 Lbs*   – 138.5 Lbs. – 362.60

Leroy Todd     – 11    – 87 Lbs.    – 16 Lbs*   – 25 Lbs*   – 110 Lbs*   – 151 Lbs.    – 338.32

Lance Foster  – 56    – 295 Lbs.  – 40 Lbs*   – 80 Lbs*   – 250 Lbs.    – 370 Lbs.    – 316.75

Bill Clark       – 89    – 205 Lbs.  – 10 Lbs*    – 22 Lbs*   – 150 Lbs*   – 182 Lbs.     – 276.03

Guest Lifter from Canada

Doug Sullivan- 64      176 Lbs   – 70 Lbs     -106 Lbs     – 440 Lbs      – 616 Lbs      740.12

WOMEN’S DIVISION:

Beth Skwarecki   – 41 – 142 Lbs.  – 32 Lbs. – 75 Lbs.    – 298Lbs.      – 405 Lbs      – 456.10

R.J. Jackson       – 60  – 105 Lbs. – 34 Lbs. – 57 Lbs.    – 190 Lbs.     – 281 Lbs.     – 393.48

Kim Van Wagner  – 55 – 134 Lbs. – 40 Lbs. – 55 Lbs.    – 185 Lbs.     – 280 Lbs.     – 374.36

Phoebe Todd       – 11  – 121 Lbs. – 25 Lbs* – 35 Lbs.   – 130 Lbs*    – 190 Lbs.     – 314.56

Stacy Todd         – 39  – 180 Lbs.  – 50 Lbs* – 70 Lbs*  – 200 Lbs*    – 320 Lbs.     – 303.97

Janet Thompson – 64  – 160 Lbs.  – 20 Lbs*  – 45 Lbs*   – 150 Lbs*   – 215 Lbs.    – 274.55

Daphne Lansdown -6  – 46 Lbs.   – 4 Lbs.    – 9.4 Lbs.  – 36 Lbs       – 49.4 Lbs     – 150.09

OFFICIALS:

Everett Todd     – Lance Foster, Chris Todd, Eric Todd

Leroy Todd       – Lance Foster, Chris Todd, Eric Todd

Phoebe Todd    – Lance Foster, Chris Todd, Eric Todd

Stacy Todd      – Lance Foster, Chris Todd, Eric Todd

Eric Todd         – Lance Foster, Chris Todd

Chris Todd      – Lance Foster, Eric Todd

John Carter     – Bill Clark,  Abe Smith

Tony Lupo      – Bill Clark,  Abe Smith

Abe Smith      –  Bill Clark

Nick Frieders  – Bill Clark

Dave DeForest – Bill Clark

Al Myers        – LaVerne Myers

LaVerne Myers – Al Myers

Barry Pensyl   – Denny Habecker

Denny Habecker – Barry Pensyl

Wade Marchand – Frank Ciavattone

Lance Foster – Chris Todd

Bill Clark – Dave DeForest

Janet Thompson – Bill Clark

Lifters without Certified Officials:

Randy Smith, Dave Hahn, Chad Ullom, Jarod Fobes, Sanjiv Gupta, R.J. Jackson

Kim Van Wagner, Beth Skwarecki, Daphne Lansdown, Lucs Hardie, Talon MacPhee, John Gordon

 

 

Abe Smith-Newest Level 1 certified official

By Eric Todd

Abe Smith completing the clean and press-heels at Nationals in Al's Dino Gym

I have been notified by our Officials Director, Joe Garcia, that Abe Smith, former Official in training, has completed the 3 practical training sessions needed to qualify him to be a level one certified official.  This is under the designation of “Test Qualified.”  So, Abe has passed his test, and has completed his practical training sessions.  He now just needs to document having officiated in at least 25 contests to become a level 2 certified official, which is a lifetime certification.  Abe becomes our 9th current level 1 official, and our 27th certified official.  Congrats Abe, and thank you for taking the leap to serve your organization.

Newcomer of the Year-Runner Up

By Eric Todd

Newcomer of the year-runner-up-Everett Todd

Newcomer of the year-runner-up-Everett Todd

The designation for newcomer of the year reads as such “This award goes to an individual who in new to the USAWA or has become involved again. It doesn’t have to go to someone in their first year of being involved in the USAWA.”

My son, Everett is in his first year of competing.  He has competed at all of the postal meets since he has been involved, the “Lift for Leroy” record day, and the Old Time Strongman Championship.  It was most likely his participation rate as well as his performance in the Old Time Strongman meet that got him the votes needed for his runner-up status.  He placed third in that meet, outperforming 2 former champions including his old pop.  Well deserved, and a huge congrats to Everett Todd!

Bench Press rule

By Eric Todd

I would assume that by now most of our readers have read Dan Wagman’s article about the absurdity of the wording change for the bench press rule.  While I do take exception with the use of the word absurd, as it seems condescending to those individuals whose only purpose at that time was to do right by the rule, Dan is on to something.   The new wording maintaining that the hamstrings must stay in contact with the bench makes the lift undoable for some, which was no one’s intention.  As soon as I read the article, I headed to the basement to see if I could complete the lift as it was written, and alas, I could not even come close.

So, how do we go about making this right?  We did not want to go a full year with a faulty rule in our rulebook.  According to Dan, if we do not amend this “one of two things will happen: 1) meet refs will see that adhering to this rule is impossible for many lifters and will ignore it; 2) lifters like me will simply not perform the bench press and its variations.”  Neither of those results is desirable.  In looking at our bylaws, Article 6a reads as follows: “The Annual Meeting of the USAWA will be held in conjunction with the National Championships, unless the executive board, by majority vote, decides otherwise.”  So, this executive board decided by unanimous vote to reconvene the national meeting virtually with all of the voting members who were present at the meeting in June.  These members voted unanimously to correct the wording of this rule.

The corrected rule will read as follows:

The lifter will take a position on the bench with both upper back and buttocks in contact with the bench. The lifter will grip the bar with the palms of both hands facing away from the lifter’s face. The width of the grip must not be more than 32 inches (81 centimeters) between the index fingers. No open grip or thumbless grip is allowed. The bar may be handed to the lifter by a spotter from the support stands, but it must be held motionless momentarily at arm’s length prior to being lowered by the lifter to a motionless position on the chest. The feet must be flat on the floor and not braced against the bench during the lift.   The use of plates, blocks, or any similar device under the lifter’s feet is permitted in an effort to achieve firm footing.  Any width of feet placement is allowed. No heel or toe rising is allowed during the lift. Once the bar is motionless and under control on the chest, the lifter will receive a command from an official to press. The bar must not be any lower than the base of the pectoral muscle when on the chest. The bar will then be pressed to a position in which the arms are fully extended. During the ascent, the bar may be pressed unevenly, but must not be lowered in any manner. However, the final straightening of the arms must be completely simultaneous. During the ascent, the position of the body on the bench must not change. This includes keeping the buttocks and the head in contact with the bench, and not having any change in hand position on the bar. Once the bar is fully pressed and motionless, the lifter will receive a command from an official to end the lift. The lifter may have assistance by spotters in returning the bar to the support stands.

The only change to the original rule is the addition of the underlined sentence. As you can see, the part requiring hamstrings has been omitted.  You can also see that we not only added that plates are allowable, but that anything else used for a similar purpose is allowable.  Hopefully that way we don’t hear from members as to how ludicrous it is that we did not include pallets, shoeboxes, or stacks of old vinyl records into the rule, as not everyone has blocks, or plates enough to lift and place their feet on.  Since that part of the rule is just in an effort to level the playing field for shorter lifters, the spirit of the rule would dictate whatever article available to allow for that would be acceptable, whether it is blocks, plates, or old, rusty frying pans.

I realize that this procedure was rather unorthodox, but within the rules, and merely done as a way to correct a mistake made by your secretary.  I am going to use my inexperience as my excuse here and can only promise to do a better job of having my ducks in a row in the future.

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