Tag Archives: USAWA

True North True Strength 2024 Open: A Celebratory Milestone in Canadian Weightlifting [RESULTS]

by Chris Frappier

The True North True Strength 2024 Open was a truly exhilarating event that set a new benchmark in Canadian weightlifting. Held at Anytime Fitness in Fergus, Ontario, on Sunday, August 25, 2024, this USAWA-sanctioned international competition marked a historic first for Canada, and it was nothing short of spectacular.

With 20 athletes—16 from Canada and four from the United States—the event was a vibrant showcase of both seasoned lifters and enthusiastic newcomers. Remarkably, aside from Chris Frappier and his son Kyle Frappier, all the Canadian athletes were making their debut in a USAWA event. The atmosphere buzzed with energy, with around 40 to 50 spectators, including gym members and family, adding to the excitement. The crowd’s thunderous cheers not only lifted the lifters’ spirits but also created a thrilling challenge, making it a bit tough for them to catch the officials’ “down” command.

Clint Poore, from the USA, added a special touch as the event emcee. His deep-toned voice, Southern Kentucky charm, and infectious sense of humor amplified the event’s excitement and kept the audience engaged throughout the day. His vibrant presence made the event even more memorable and enjoyable.

The competition was nothing short of extraordinary, featuring the Hackenschmidt Floor Press and the Trap Bar Deadlift. Clint Poore set a new national record with an impressive 430-pound Hackenschmidt Floor Press. Five Canadian women made history by setting or breaking world records: Alix McGregor, Aimee Young, Amanda Martinoni, Judy Hutchison, and Denise Bowen. On the men’s side, the Trap Bar Deadlift also saw two world records rewritten: one by Clint Poore, who surpassed his own record, and another by Chris Frappier, who shattered a 20-year-old record with a phenomenal 500-pound lift. Additionally, Beth Skwarecki and Allison Lupo from the USA set national records, with Beth also establishing a world record in the Trap Bar Deadlift. A complete list of the results from the main competition: “True North True Strength 2024 Open” and the “True North True Strength Record Session A” listed below this article. Both competitions were USAWA sanctioned events.

Music played a crucial role in maintaining high energy levels throughout the competition. A special Spotify playlist featuring songs submitted by the athletes themselves added a personal touch and kept everyone motivated. The “True North True Strength 2024 Open” official competition playlist is available on Spotify, allowing everyone to relive the electrifying atmosphere of the event.

The day was filled with personal bests and inspiring moments. We witnessed 78-year-old Alix McGregor from Canada competing for the first time and setting a world record in the Trap Bar Deadlift for her age and bodyweight division. Not to be outdone, 79-year-old Joe Somfay, also from Canada, achieved an impressive three world records in the afternoon records session. Canadian athletes collectively set 18 world records, while American competitors added another eight to the tally.

The afternoon record session provided an opportunity for athletes to attempt world records across over 200 possible lifts. Chris Frappier, who organized the event in honor of his late mother and to support women in the sport, reflected on the day’s success with pride. The event was a celebration of incredible achievements and a testament to the strength and unity of the weightlifting community.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our local Centre Wellington community sponsors whose support made this event possible: Anytime Fitness (Fergus location), ALCO Visuals, Grand River Physiotherapy, co-operators Craig Janzen & Associates Inc., Graham A. Giddy Funeral Homes Ltd., Wightman Telecom, Two Wheel Motorsport, YOUTOPIA Medical Spa, Station Earth, Summit Laser and Manufacturing Ltd., and H&R Machine. Special thanks also go to our event sponsors: Popeye’s Supplements (Guelph location), Nemesis Grips, and Inclusive Fitness. Your support was instrumental in making this event a grand success.

A big thank you to our dedicated volunteers—Paula Frappier, Tommy Forsythe, Chris Garland, and Gerry & Teresa Brummelhuis—whose hard work and dedication were crucial in ensuring the smooth running of the event. Your contributions were deeply appreciated.

We are also incredibly grateful to our officials, Beth Skwarecki, Tony Lupo, and Clint Poore, who traveled from the USA to officiate the event. Their commitment, passion, and expertise were essential in making the competition a resounding success.

For more event-related posts and content, follow @truenorth_truestrength on Instagram or Chris Frappier on Facebook.

If you’re interested in participating in future weightlifting events, check out the “Upcoming Events” list on the USAWA website at USAWA or visit IAWA for more information.

The True North True Strength 2024 Open will be cherished not only for its record-breaking feats but also for the inspiring spirit and community that defined this unforgettable day.

Overall Results

National records (US)

Lift: Hackenschmidt Floor Press

#NameCountryGenderKG ClassAgeWeight (lbs)Weight (kg)Record Type
1Beth SkwareckiUSAF70 KG40+245111.1National
2Clint PooreUSAM115 KG50+430195.0national

Lift: Trap Bar Deadlift

#NameCountryGenderKG ClassAgeWeight (lbs)Weight (kg)Record Type
1Beth SkwareckiUSAF70 KG40+305138.3National
2Allison LupoUSAF90 KG55+20090.7National
3Clint PooreUSAM115 kg50+475215.5National

World records

Lift: Trap Bar Deadlift

#NameCountryGenderKG ClassAgeWeight (lbs)Weight (kg)Record Type
1Beth SkwareckiUSAF70 KG40+305138.3World
2Aimee YoungCANADAF65 KG45+255115.7World
3Alix McGregorCANADAF55 KG75+13059.0World
4Judy HutchisonCANADAF115 KG50+240108.9World
5Denise BowenCANADAF65 KG60+230104.3World
6Clint PooreUSAM115 KG50+475215.5World
7Chris FrappierCANADAM95 KG55+500226.8World

Record session

LiftNameCountryGenderKG ClassAgeWeight (lbs)Weight (kg)Record Type
Turkish GetupBeth SkwareckiUSAF70 KG40+5022.7World & National
Reflex Clean & Push PressBeth SkwareckiUSAF70 KG40+11552.2World & National
One Hand (Left) Mix Team Deadlift with Chris FrappierBeth SkwareckiUSAF95 KG40+405183.7World
One Hand (Left) Mix Team Deadlift with Beth SkwareckiChris FrappierCANADAM95 KG40+405183.7World
Team Deadlift (Mix) with Tony LupoAllison LupoUSAF110 KG55+450204.1World & National
Team Deadlift (Mix) with Allison LupoTony LupoUSAM110 KG55+450204.1World & National
Turkish GetupTony LupoUSAM110 KG55+104.5World & National
Clean & Push Press – 2 DumbbellsTony LupoUSAM110 KG55+10045.4National
Turkish GetupAmanda MartinoniCANADAF80 KGOpen5022.7World
Dumbbell Walk (Right Hand)Amanda MartinoniCANADAF80 KGOpen4821.8World
Turkish GetupAimee YoungCANADAF65 KG45+6228.1World
Dumbbell Walk (Right Hand)Aimee YoungCANADAF65 KG45+5022.7World
Turkish GetupDenise BowenCANADAF65 KG60+3515.9World
Dumbbell Walk (Right Hand)Denise BowenCANADAF65 KG60+3616.3World
Turkish GetupNathan JoyesCANADAM100 KG40+7031.8World
Overhead SquatNathan JoyesCANADAM100 KG40+11552.2World
Shanks Lift (Dinnie Deadlift)Joe SomfayCANADAM85 KG75+285129.3World
Dumbbell Walk (Right Hand)Joe SomfayCANADAM85 KG75+5022.7World
Dumbbell Walk (Left Hand)Joe SomfayCANADAM85 KG75+5022.7World

Updated 9/2/2024 to correct the trap bar record list. Amanda Martinioni’s 4th attempt for record was incorrectly recorded as a successful lift, and this has now been corrected.

About the Secretary and Treasurer positions

Hey everyone! Beth Skwarecki here, the new Secretary of USAWA. At our 2024 national meeting, the membership voted in a new rule that splits the Secretary/Treasurer (formerly one position) into two, a Secretary and a Treasurer. I’d like to explain that change, and include some information on how members will interact with these two roles.

Why the change was needed

Briefly: because the Secretary/Treasurer did a ton of work. While the bylaws list five duties performed by the President, four performed by the Vice President, and three performed by At-large board members, there are a whopping fourteen duties assigned to the Secretary/Treasurer.

This may be a suitable workload for some people in some circumstances (honestly, I am impressed by everybody who held this position in the past!) but in 2024 we are a growing organization. Due to this growth, our Secretary/Treasurer has had to deal with increasing numbers of meet sanctions, concerns from membership, etc, while still doing the work of keeping our finances in order.

Eric spoke to me earlier this year to ask if I would be interested in the Secretary/Treasurer position if he were to step down. Upon discussion, we decided to make a proposal to split the roles. This proposal was presented at the national meeting and passed unanimously.

I’ll give an overview of the proposal here, but you can read the full thing in the 2024 national meeting minutes. Several items in the rulebook and bylaws had to be amended, but the most important ones were Article 5, defining the board, and Article 9, defining the duties of the Secretary/Treasurer.

The board still has five members (Article 5)

The Executive Board of the USAWA was, and still is, a group of five people. Under the old bylaws, the board contained these specific five positions:

  • President
  • Secretary/Treasurer
  • Vice President
  • At-large member #1
  • At-large member #2

With the change, passed during the 2024 national meeting, the board still contains five people, but the four officer roles are separated so that the Secretary and Treasurer are no longer required to be the same person. Any two roles may be combined, so that in the future we could go back to having a combined Secretary/Treasurer if the membership so desires. Or, for example, we could have a President/Secretary and a Treasurer/Vice President plus three at-large members. Any board positions not filled by officers shall be filled by At-large members. There must always be at least one At-large member.

After the membership passed this change to the rules, Eric Todd stepped down as Secretary, while retaining the role of Treasurer. He then nominated me (Beth Skwarecki) to become the new Secretary. (This vote also passed unanimously.) I was already an At-Large member of the board, so the five board seats still belong to the same five people. Next year will be an election year, so this could change. Currently the board seats are as follows (and the positions are elected in this order):

  • President (Denny Habecker)
  • Secretary (Beth Skwarecki)
  • Treasurer (Eric Todd)
  • Vice-President (Chad Ullom)
  • At-large member (Abe Smith)

Duties of the Secretary and Treasurer (Articles 9 and 10)

The section of the bylaws describing these duties has now been split, with financial duties going to the Treasurer and duties relating to forms, applications, and communication being the purview of the Secretary. Both positions still serve on the board and attend meetings as described in the bylaws.

These are pretty straightforward, but as a member, here are the major things you need to know:

  • Meet sanction applications should be sent to the Secretary; if approved, payment should be sent to the Treasurer. (We also removed the requirement for a physical signature on the meet sanction form, so applications can be submitted to the Secretary by email.)
  • The Treasurer shall maintain the bank account, negotiate contracts, and perform all other financial duties.
  • The Secretary shall maintain records, such as the membership roster and meeting minutes.
  • The Secretary shall receive complaints and grievances under Article 20, Part C. We also corrected a grammatical error in that rule, so that it now correctly states:

Any appeal, grievance or complaint by a member must be directed in writing to the USAWA Secretary, who will then present the issue to the Executive Board to be decided by majority vote. Failure to follow this protocol will result in appeals, grievances and complaints not being officially recognized.

The rulebook will be updated soon with these and other recent changes. I also plan to write a few more articles explaining other changes that were (or, in the case of knee sleeves, were not) passed by the membership. Please direct any questions or official communication to me at bethskw@gmail.com.

Sportsmanship Award: Runner-Up

By Eric Todd

 

Dave DeForest accepting his sportsmanship award

Dave DeForest accepting his sportsmanship award

The sportsmanship award is described as follows:

 This goes to an individual who possesses and shows great sportsmanship within the USAWA. The act of sportsmanship may be by conduct at all events, or by a specific example of exceptional sportsmanship.

This year’s runner-up in this category goes to Dave DeForest.  Dave has competed regularly in the USAWA.  He is a stalwart at the Clark’s Gym meets and has traveled to many competitions as well.  He has been to my place on more than one occasion, and has traveled out of state multiple times, including to national and world meets. Dave is a fierce competitor, buy is always the consummate sportsman. He always leaves all he has on the platform, but win, lose or draw, he maintains a cheerful demeanor.  He is a pleasure to visit with, and is always ready to lend a helping hand when it is needed.  Congratulations, Dave!  Well deserved!

The “Dreaded Red X”

by Thom Van Vleck

Nobody was immune to getting the dreaded Red X from Bill. Even Al got one!

Nobody was immune to getting the dreaded Red X from Bill. Even Al got one!

My roots in the USAWA go way back.  My first meet was a 1979 “Odd Lift” meet put on by the founder of the USAWA, Bill Clark.  But before that my Uncles and their friends often lifted in Clark’s meets going back to the fifties. Clark founded the USAWA but he actually didn’t start the “Odd Lifts”.  That goes back to Ed Zercher, Sr who was a great lifter in the 30’s and after.  But even before Ed was in his first contest he had a buddy in his old neighborhood in St. Louis named John Wille. In the 1920’s they hung out in the same neighborhood and they did acrobatics, lifting whatever was available, and made make shift weights out of scrap metal.

Today we look to the internet.  The USAWA has a great website.  Al Myers does a lot of work to keep this thing going and having regular updates.  But for 50 years it was “Ol’ Clark”.  Bill was old school in an old school way that made a lot of old school stuff seem new!  He never touched a computer.  For 50 years he put out old fashioned newsletters.  For you young guys, that means he typed up the newsletter on a typewriter, then he copied the news letter (on a Mimeograph and later a copy machine), and he would put them in envelopes, actually lick the stamps (because they didn’t just stick on like they do now) and mail them to your actual mailbox (not the “mailbox” that your e-mail comes to).

I remember looking through all the old newsletters my Uncles had.  Reading about the lifts, the lifters, the meets and random thoughts (and sometimes rants) that Clark would have about steroids, improper judging, or whatever he thought was undermining the integrity of the sport.  If you sent him a letter, be careful, he’d put it in the newsletter!

He operated all this on a shoe string budget and his own sweat. He probably spent a lot of his own money.  But he did ask donations.  You could get the newsletter if you sent him even just a few bucks to pay for the stamps!  He would also include in almost every newsletter a little rant about “bucking up” and make jokes about not being a deadbeat.

He would have a list of people that gave money.  He would even put how much they gave.  I think to give credit to those who gave more than their fair share because they loved the sport.  Those that gave often really valued the information and back then there was no internet and finding out much of anything about weightlifting was about impossible).  He also would “Red X” the guys who hadn’t “paid up” for some time.  He would put what he called the “Dreaded Red X” on the front of your newsletter.  It kind of reminded me how teachers would mark up your papers with red ink when you got something wrong.  The funny part was he would often keep sending guys newsletters for a long time.  Especially so if he knew someone was on hard times.  Like my Uncle Wayne.  Clark could be really nice that way.

In some ways I think Ol’ Clark got vilified a bit for his “Red X” and other things he did when he would call out guys for not following established rules. He sometimes had a way of making a remark about it the next time you would see him to let you know his displeasure….one might even call it a snide remark.

But you know what.  Now that I’m older.  Now that I’ve been in the position of running organizations that get by on shoe string budgets and I’ve put in long hours to run highland games, strongman contests, lifting meets as well as three different weightlifting clubs (Jackson Weightlifting Club, Truman State Irondogs, and the A.T. Still University Osteoblasters) as well as other Church and community organizations that ONLY happen because the people involved reach in their pockets and pull out some cash that includes more than a few drops of sweat…..I get it.

That bring me to present day.  When Ol’ Clark ran that newsletter you saw the stamp.  You knew it cost money.  You knew the paper, the ink, the copies, and all that went into it cost money so I think it was easier to see how much all of it cost.  Well, now Al Myers stepped in and took it over some 8 years ago.  He created a website, then got a better one, and did a lot of work to keep it going and at what cost.  I bet a lot more than the stamps Ol’ Clark used.  At the least, I would say both men work (worked) equally hard.

So what can you do?  Send him a few hundred bucks!  Well, that would be nice but I think the best thing we could do as an organization is support the guys that make it happen.  Not just Al, but our officers, judges, etc.  We do this by following the rules, getting meet results to Al in a timely manner, make sure our meets are as legit as we can, write a good story for the meet results for the website, maybe send Al a good story or anecdote for the website (like how people would send Clark a letter) and he’d put in on the website.  Buy Al a beer, slap him on the back….heck, I bet a thanks would go a long way.

Otherwise, people like Bill and Al get burned out.  They love a sport and after awhile they feel unappreciated and frustrated and next thing you know…..well, let’s just try and do our part and keep the USAWA great.  It’s only as great as the people who run it and the people who are a part of it AND appreciate it!

Time to renew!

by Al Myers

It’s time to renew your USAWA membership! I want to remind everyone that membership in the USAWA runs for a calendar year – Jan 1st to the end of December.  So far I have only one person who has sent me his 2016 membership dues! That lifter is the “one and only” Jim Malloy.

Please include a properly filled out membership application with your dues.  These forms are easily found under the tab About Us.  Just click on “forms and applications”.  Dues at $25 are a bargain.  Membership dues in the USAWA are our main source of income, and all the money goes back to the membership. This money pays for our yearly awards, drug testing, and the website fees.  Membership allows you to compete in any of our sanctioned events, and even covers “joint membership” in the IAWA.

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