The Competition was held at the Victorian Weightlifting Stadium at Hawthorne 4-6 August, a venue familiar to those who have been involved in Nationals comps in Melbourne over the years.
29 Queensland athletes competed at Nationals, with 10 athletes who had entered having to
withdraw due to injury/personal reasons in the weeks before.
Athlete Coaching allocation was worked out in advance by the Head Coach – Miles Wydall, in accordance with new QWA coaching policies and role descriptions. With 10 athletes withdrawing prior to competition, the roster required changing regularly. Approved Personal Coaches coached their personal athletes, and other athletes were rostered to Team Coaches accordingly. Experienced Team Coaches also acted as Mentors during sessions. This worked well and was seen as very constructive and positive.
The final session of the event had to be the battle worthy of an honourable mention, with medals decided on the final couple of lifts. Congratulations to longtime QWA members Jakob Daniels and Luke Gardner on their gold medal winning performances!!
Congratulations to Olivia Shelton (Kelly) for placing 2nd in the best overall female awards;
and Matthew Lydement for placing 3rd in the best overall male awards!!
Queensland took out the Men’s Team shield. It has been many years since our Men’s team has taken out
this shield, so a fantastic result.
Queensland’s Women placed 2nd behind Victoria in a very close finish.
Congratulations also to Macy Brockhurst on her new State Records at the event: Qld Senior Record F81 – Clean & Jerk: 112 Kg; Qld U23 Record F81 – Clean & Jerk: 112Kg
Personal coaches Jackson Solofa & Callum Hannay; team coaches Rhian Roussos & Angela Wydall lead by Head coach Miles Wydall, Team Leader Sonia Stenhouse & QWA Operations Manager Debra Keelan.
