Tag Archives: Dave Polzin

Records Were Smashed

by Roger LaPointe

Dave Polzin set several new USAWA & IAWA records, including in this lift, the Fulton Bar Jefferson Lift.

National and World record sized lifts were made at the Atomic Athletic Tractor Pull Weekend USAWA Weightlifting Meet! There were 10 National and 5 World Record level lifts. Not too shabby…

We also had a lot of fun, which is what it is really about.

The lifts were the Fulton Bar (2” Diameter Thick Bar) Jefferson lift, the One Arm Barbell Deadlift, and the Crucifix Hold. Record attempts succeeded in each of the lifts. Some of the highlights included:

Dave Polzin’s (Age 62, 100 Kg Wt. Class) 402 lbs. Fulton Bar Jefferson Lift
Roger LaPointe’s (Age 41, 80 Kg Wt. Class) 75 lbs. Crucifix Hold
John McKean’s (Age 66, 75 Kg Wt. Class) 276 lbs. Right Arm Dead Lift
Scott Schmidt’s (Age 59, 110 Kg Wt. Class) 90 lbs. Crucifix Hold

Tshirts from the meet are still available for sale!

If you have never tried any of these old school lifts, you probably should. As John Kurtz, one of the officials, pointed out to me, “these are great old lifts that you can find in all the old York, Healthways and Milo Bar Bell courses. Everyone did these before the age of machines!”

World Record Clean and Press

by Roger LaPointe

This is the series of pictures showing Dave Polzin's WR Clean and Press of 90 KG.

You want world records? We’ve got’em.

This year’s Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic hosted the USAWA Heavy Lifts Championships, where 8 World Records were broken.

Two of the World Records were done as extra lifts. One of the beauties of the US All-Round Weightlifting Association is having the opportunity to add in extra lifts that are not on the regular agenda. One such lift was the classic Clean & Press.

Dave Polzin was the lifter. He trains with the Atomic Athletic Club at the new Atomic Athletic Training Center. Dave’s first meet in the All Rounds took place at last year’s Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic, but this was far from the beginning of his lifting career. In fact, Dave’s first weightlifting competition was in Olympic Weightlifting, when the Clean & Press was still part of the Olympics. Dave was quite a presser, pushing up over 300 pounds. Unfortunately, right after that meet, the Press was eliminated from Olympic competition. However, as a football player for Defiance College, Dave continued to do the press in his training.

Dave achieved some real success in Olympic style weightlifting, reaching national level in the late 70s and early 80s. He usually lifted in the 110 kg weight class, placing as high as second at the US Nationals. His by clean was 202.5 kg (446.5 lbs.). Dave quit competition by the mid-1980s, with many of his friends trying to get him to lift as a Masters age athlete.

It took the “odd lifts” of the USAWA to get him back into competition mode again. Last year’s Strongman Picnic included the One Hand Barbell Deadlift and the Clean & Push Press, where he set records in both lifts. Now Dave Polzin has caught the bug for all round weightlifting.

This past weekend, the Heavy Lifts Championships were not enough for Dave. He also wanted to break the Clean & Press record, which he did in fine style. He practiced the Hand & Thigh Lift with us at the Atomic Athletic Club, but we didn’t have harnesses for the Neck Lift or the Hip Lift, so Dave learned from the other lifters that day. When he finished he went 2 for 3 in the Clean & Press, breaking the record twice, where the new record now stands at 90 Kg (198 lbs.) for the 100 kg wt. Class and 60+ age group. Dave is already pushing for the next meet here at Atomic Athletic.

Live strong, Roger LaPointe

Heavy Lift Championships

by Al Myers

Group picture from the 2012 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships: (front left to right) Roger LaPointe, Al Myers, Denny Habecker, Eric Todd, Scott Schmidt (Back) Dave Polzin

This past Saturday Roger LaPointe, of Atomic Athletic, hosted the 2012 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships.  It was held in conjunction with his annual promotion, the Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic.  After last year’s Heavies in York, I didn’t know if that meet could be topped, but after attending Roger’s event I think it was!   The combination of the championships and the picnic were a perfect fit – it led to a festive environment along with many spectators.  Roger did an EXCELLENT JOB of bringing everything together to celebrate a day of strength. Along with the Championships, there were several strength shows by other strongmen going on.  All of this was topped off with a big meal for everyone in attendance.  I won’t say anymore about the picnic activities as I will leave that story for Roger to tell later.

Myself (left) and Roger LaPointe (right). Roger did an outstanding job of promoting the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships!

The meet itself was well attended for a Heavy Lift Championships. All together 7 lifters entered – a mixture of heavy lift veterans and a couple of new lifters to the “chain lifts”.  This meet doesn’t appeal to all lifters, and generally the Heavy Lift Champs doesn’t get more entries than this, so I was very pleased with the turnout.  It ended up “being a battle” between Eric Todd and myself for the overall champion.  It came down to the last event, the Hip Lift, to decide the day’s champion.  I was in order before ET, so I pushed myself and got a 2000# Hip Lift to put a little pressure on him.  He responded well, and put up with a personal record Hip Lift of 2075# to edge me out by only 3 adjusted points. I will have to do some research on this, but I’m guessing this is the closest finish for the overall lifter EVER in a Heavy Lift Championships.  Eric was the one who “stole the show” of the day on the whole – he started off the meet with an overall ALL TIME USAWA & WORLD RECORD in the Neck Lift with an unbelievable lift of 905 pounds!!!  His new record topped Chad Ullom’s 900 from last years Heavy Champs, which has now become the norm for being one of the best in the Neck Lift.   It was a really impressive lift, and I expect will inspire Chad to lift even more.  I fully expect one of these two lifters to be the first to break the “magic barrier” of 1000 pounds in the Neck Lift.  It will happen.  I was glad to see ET enter this big meet and win this championships. Most don’t know this, but ET has been competing in the USAWA longer than I have (by 6 months).  He has never really traveled far to meets in the USAWA as he has been focused on his pro strongman career.  He is a gifted all rounder and I kidded him he is still a youngster (at 37) in the USAWA and his best years are still ahead of him.

Dennis Mitchell giving an interview to the local TV station.

On the other end of the spectrum is Dennis Mitchell.  Dennis is now 80 years old and was the oldest lifter in this meet.  For his age, Dennis is remarkable.  Most guys his age would never take on lifts like the Heavy Lifts.  Dennis is a “master” at these lifts, and constantly surprises me with his lifting.  He told me last weekend that this month marks 69 years since he began lifting weights (that’s right, 69 years!!!!).   Also, he has competed throughout this whole time. That is one long lifting career!!!  I was glad to see Dennis get recognized by being interviewed by the local TV station.

Another lifting milestone was achieved this past weekend as well.  Our USAWA President Denny Habecker told me that Saturday marked 50 years since his first lifting competition – to the day!!!   I made sure to celebrate this occasion with Denny after the meet.  Denny multi-tasked all day as a lifter and as the head official, as well as bringing the heavy bar and accessories for the meet.  Many things happen in the USAWA only because of Denny!! He finished with a record lift in the Hip Lift at 944 pounds.

I was glad to see competing the two newcomers, wily veteran Olympic Lifter Dave Polzin, and the big talented young kid Thomas Casillas.  Both have tremendous abilities, and with a little practice on the Heavy Lifts will be very good Heavy Lifters. Dave really impressed me after the meet when he did a 198# Clean and Press at the age of 62 for an age group record!!!  Andrew Durniat made an appearance as well in one of the strongman shows.  I hadn’t seen Andrew in a year, but immediately I could tell that he has added some muscular size since then.  He did a 166# one arm snatch for a new record.  This is one of the best one arm snatches of the year in the organization.  Andrew’s strength in a lift like this shows that he is “way more” than just a grip lifter.  I’m hoping that we will continue to see Andrew compete in the USAWA, as he is a great person as well as a superb lifter.

Athletic Atomic club member Dave Polzin performed a 198# Clean and Press at the age of 62!!!!

Another all -round lifter who was in attendance but did not compete was the Cleveland lifter John Kurtz.  John trained under the legendary Howard Prechtel and obviously has a wealth of information.  I enjoyed visiting with him throughout the day and getting to know him.  His name is “littered” throughout our USAWA record list with impressive records, and it was nice to be able to “put a name with a face”.   He has had some health issues of late, but he still looked like he was in lifting shape to me!!!  I hope to see him get “back into action” in USAWA competition.  The only person I have not mentioned yet is Scott Schmidt.   I saved Scott for last because I want to make sure everyone knows how much he contributes to our organization.  Scott is part of the 5-person executive board that governs the USAWA, and is very influential “behind the scenes”.  He is always very helpful at meets, and one of the better officials in the organization.  He put up a great lift of 1005# in the Hand and Thigh as well and placing third overall in this meet.

MEET RESULTS:

Heavy Lift Championships
Bowling Green, Ohio
May 12, 2012

Meet Director:  Roger LaPointe

Lifts:  Neck Lift, Hand and Thigh Lift, Harness Lift

Officials:  Denny Habecker, Dennis Mitchell, Scott Schmidt, Eric Todd, Al Myers

Announcer: Roger LaPointe

Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Loader: Jeff Rybek

LIFTER AGE BWT NECK H&T HIP TOT PTS
Eric Todd 37 252 860 1200 2075 4135 3266.6
Al Myers 45 240 700 1100 2000 3800 3263.1
Scott Schmidt 59 249 287 1005 1400 2692 2567.8
Dave Polzin 62 215 330 750 900 1980 2090.3
Denny Habecker 69 196 0 600 900 1500 1761.4
Dennis Michell 80 154 240 400 550 1190 1756.8
Thomas Casillas 15 305 0 600 0 600 496.9

NOTES:  BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  TOT is total pounds lifted.  PTS are adjusted points for bodyweight correction and age allowance.

EXTRA LIFTS FOR RECORDS:

Eric Todd  Neck Lift:  905#
Denny Habecker Hand & Thigh Lift: 705#
Denny Habecker Hip Lift: 944#
Dennis Mitchell Hand & Thigh Lift: 450#
Dennis Mitchell  Hip Lift: 625#
Thomas Casillas Hand and Thigh: 700#
Dave Polzin Clean and Press: 198#
Andrew Durniat Snatch – Left Arm: 166#
(33 years old, 230 lbs. BWT)