Four Queenstowners are competing at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Auckland this month as the resort becomes a bit of a powerhouse for the sport.
The quartet are Veronica Manning, 23, and her partner Tim Monigatti, 25, Anna Thompson, 41, and Carli Dillen, 39.
Till recently, Thompson — who competed in the worlds in Sweden in 2019 — was Queenstown’s only competitive powerlifter.
Monigatti and Manning recently competed at the worlds in Sun City, South Africa, while Dillen, who recently shifted from Auckland, is a veteran of five world champs — her best result’s a bronze medal for deadlift.
Those three also coach powerlifting.
The quartet all belong to the Southern Power lifting Association, but Thompson believes the sport would ‘‘absolutely take off’’ if Queenstown had its own club and its own gym.
Dillen says, with their own gym, powerlifters could train on competition-spec equipment.
‘‘With something like lifting weights, we know the human brain and body calibrate to the weight you’re lifting and the equipment you’re using, so to practise on competition-spec equipment does make a difference.’’
For the Auckland competition, Manning, Monigatti and Dillen have all been nominated first, from their results in the past 12 months, in their respective categories — 69kg junior female classic, 83kg open men classic and 69kg open female bench press.
Thompson’s been nominated fourth in her 69kg masters 1 female classic category, however she says her main focus in Auckland will be sitting her international referee’s qualification.
The Commonwealths run from November 28 till December 5 and have attracted a record field of about 770 athletes.
