The Island Invitational had it's largest field ever with 136 athletes competing at the Centennial Building Nov. 8-10. (Dan Marshall NNN)

By Dan Marshall

Raising the Bar

Fifth year Nanaimo weightlifting competition stands as biggest yet

Nov 14, 2019 | 4:10 PM

NANAIMO — The fifth annual Island Invitational weightlifting competition was the largest one yet.

It was held at the Centennial Building Nov. 8-10 with nearly 140 athletes taking part.

About 20 of those are from the host club Hercules Weightlifting, with the rest of the competitors mainly from other parts of the island and B.C.

Organizer Raf Korkowski has made it a goal to make the event bigger and better every year.

“The big focus this year was promoting so we got more public awareness. The sole purpose was for more people to experience weightlifting, what it is and how it works. That’s always been my motivation in hosting these events.”

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Proof that the event is growing is the need to keep finding a bigger location to hold it.

Venues have ranged from the Hercules training facility, Island Optimal and Prime’ Sport Performance before getting to their new location this year.

The competition was a qualifying event for the Junior Nationals and Junior World Championships which added to the strength of the field.

Both the best overall male and female lifters are also members of the Canadian National team.

Tali Darsigny of Quebec lifted 442 pounds, while David Samayoa from Saskatchewan had a total of 706 pounds.

Nanaimo’s Hercules Club finished second to Vancouver’s Dynasty Weightlifting Club in the overall team competition with a medal count of two golds, two silvers and one bronze.

As well top local juniors Georgia Cameron and Terilyn Ewen-Holdom finished 5^th and 6^th in their F59kg category.

The results guarantee spots at the 2020 Junior National Championships in Edmonton.

Korkowski himself has an impressive resume but wasn’t supposed to take part in the Island Invitational.

Despite taking on the bulk of the organizing duties he made a last minute decision to lift and was the top male finisher in the masters category.

For some of the athletes the goal for the weekend was meeting a standard, or qualifying for future competitions, but for many others it was an opportunity to set a personal record.

Korkowski coaches his athletes to compete against themselves, noting it’s very easy to set your own bar.

“A lot of our athletes aren’t at the stage where they’re competing for a standard like a junior nationals so it’s more based on personal records. For our newer lifters we want them to have a good competitive experience.”

According to Korkowski the number of athletes weightlifting on a week to week basis at his club is growing as well due to increased awareness of the sport and opportunities for instruction at training for a relatively low cost.

With full male and female divisions and an age range from U12 to 79-years-old at the Island Invitational, weightlifting in Nanaimo is proving to attract a very large demographic.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77