Teesside Student Makes Impact At Irish Powerlifting Championship

AN Irish-born Teesside University student made a huge impact at national powerlifting competition, winning a number of medals and even breaking a world record.

Andrew Richardson, chairman of the Teesside Barbarians powerlifting team, took part in the 2015 Irish Powerlifting National championship last month at the Cork Institute of Technology and won two silver medals and a bronze in the Junior’s Under-23 Under-100kg weight class.

Andrew lifted nearly 648.5kg, nearly seven times his body weight, and even broke the world record in the squat, a record that would end being beaten later on in the event.

Andrew said: “I’ve been training for this event for 24 weeks now and it certainly paid off.”

“To be able to lift nearly seven times my own body weight is huge, and I was very pleased with it.

“It gives me confidence and gives me a lot of momentum heading into future events.”

He Squatted 246kg, benched 127.5kg and deadlifted 275kg at 95.8kg as he came third twice in the overall men’s under-100kg class for squat and deadlift.

The tournament served as a qualifier for earning a spot at the European, World and Four Nations championships.

The tournament was the biggest national event ever held in Ireland and Andrew was pleased to be able to make such an impact.

Next on Andrew’s horizon is the Northern University Competition on April 4.

Thirty members of the Teesside Barbarians, including Andrew will be competing at the competition held at Durham.

Teesside Barbarians Conquer Powerlifting Competition

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: The Teesside Barbarians stand together

THE Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting team took part in their first team competition, winning four overall weight classes.
Twenty lifters from the Teesside University club took part in the Five Towns Powerlifting Club Deadlift Competition at Formula Fitness in Yorkshire last Sunday, making up almost half of the entrants in the competition.
Club Chairman Andrew Richardson led the team into Yorkshire, winning the under 105kg class.
Andrew was pleased of the team’s efforts after a few members took part in a successful competition in a couple of weeks ago.
Andrew said: “This competition was aimed at beginners and the majority of the club competing where first timers so it suited us nicely.”
There were a lot of reasons to celebrate for the Barbarians, with Tom Lingard winning the Under 66kg class for the Barbarians.
Simon Wisdom won the Under 120kg class while Adam Nash won the Over 120kg as the Barbarians impressed in the final powerlifting event of the year.
Chris Barker came 2nd in the Under 93kg class while Credia Ineza and Tom Bishop both came third in the U72kg class and Under 74kg classes respectively.
The competition featured powerlifters from around the country and the Barbarians put in a great effort.
This had followed up from success for some of the members at the Open/Junior Powerlifting Competition held by Yorkshire North East Powerlifting Federation, capping off a tremendous first year for the club.
The Barbarians will be looking for even more success in 2015, having ended 2014 off with a bang.
To get involved in the Powerlfiting club, see the Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting Club Facebook page for more details.

Teesside powerlifters get top training facilities

THE Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting team has recieved a huge boost to its training after access to new equipment.

The club has been given permission to use the Centuria South building for training which gives it access to greater equipment to help them perform at the highest quality.

Club chairman Andrew Richardson is pleased with this new development.

Andrew said: “We’re very grateful that the university has allowed us to train there.

“It has recognised that we needed this extra equipment.

“Where we’re training at the moment is good but this gives us extra space and the freedom to a lot more specific training.”

The Barbarians team were launched in January as founder Andrew wanted a club that would help him train for competitions.

The club membership grew quickly and was boosted by the Freshers Fair event in September.

Andrew, who studies Applied Sport Science, said that the fair helped greatly with getting the club noticed.

Andrew said: “The Freshers Fair helped well and we got a lot of advertisement out of it.

“A lot more people became aware and a lot more people signed up.

“We missed the fair last year having started in the middle of the year, so we didn’t quite have the stage to put ourselves out there.

“Despite that, we still got a good response at the time but this helped us build our membership even further.”

The Barbarians have also recieved help from other sports, as they planned to get all the clubs linked together.

They formed a partnership with the American Fooball team The Teesside Cougars to offer a discounted membership to joining both clubs, allowing those that join to get the best of both worlds.

Andrew has established quite a powerlifting career since taking part in the sport after getting injured playing rugby.

In 2013, he began competing in powerlifting in the under 18-19 category.

It didn’t take him long to make an impact as he was able to win the National powerlifting, European powerlifting and the World powerlifting tournaments in the under 90kg event.

He’s currently training to take part in the Irish National competition in February and the World competition in June where he is looking to try to break the squat world record in his age category.

Andrew said: “This would be quite the accomplishment for me after the work I’ve put in this year.

“Last year I really struggled with the squat but this year I’ve busted my backside off for it.

“It’ll be great to have the chance to compete at a high level for it.”

Andrew also represented Ireland in the Four Nations against England, Scotland and Wales.

Hailing from Coleraine, Ireland, Andrew lifted a total of 607.5kg overall from the squat, bench press and deadlift events while representing his country.

And he’s hoping for more success in the future for him and the Barbarians.

To get involved in the Powerlfiting club, see the Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting Club Facebook page for more details.

 

TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY STUDENT REPRESENTS IRELAND IN POWERLIFTING COMPETITION

A TEESSIDE University student celebrated his 20th birthday by competing in the international 4 Nations Powerlifting competition.

Andrew Richardson, who studies Applied Sport Science, represented his home-nation Ireland in the Four Nations against England, Scotland and Wales.

Hailing from Coleraine, Ireland, Andrew lifted a total of 607.5kg overall from the squat, bench press and deadlift events.

Andrew is thankful that his hard work training gave him the chance to lift for Ireland.

Andrew says: “I had set the 4 Nations as my next target in November as it was a small team of 12 lifters who would go and represent their country.

“From November it was my only focus and thankfully my hard training paid off.

“This was my first competition of 2014 I have been training for 24 weeks since my last tournament so it meant a lot to me.”

STRENGTH: Andrew shows off his strength as he lifts

Andrew was the youngest member of the Ireland team as they finished third behind winners England and runners up Scotland.

Andrew pulled off a 265kg deadlift, 220kg squat and a 122.5kg bench press in the competition.

Andrew is now hoping to go from strength to strength in the 2015 competition.

Andrew said: “Ireland are putting in a bid to host the event in 2015 and it would mean even more to me if I got to represent my country in front of the home crowd.

“I have been to National Championships, Europeans and Worlds but the 4 Nations is by the far the best event anyone can compete at from the home nations.

“This is because you aren’t lifting for yourself, you are lifting as a team. A lot of very tactical lifting happens and you wanted to lift for your fellow teammates.”

LIFT: Andrew prepares his bench-press

While studying at Teesside, he also put together the Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting  Club in January 2014.

The club already has 35 members and it hopes to grow even bigger next year.

Andrew says the club has greatly improved his training and performance being surrounded with like minded friends and athletes.

Andrew said: “I wanted to promote the sport I love so I got it set up.

“It has increased my love for it even more and my training has improved.

“It’s great training with individuals who push you hard in the gym is great as there are days when you are tired and sore it is good to have someone to help you get that last rep.”

NATIONS COLLIDE: All four nations come together for the powerlifting event

Andrew has already established himself as an accomplished powerlifter.

In 2013, he began competing in powerlifting in the under 18-19 category.

It didn’t take him long to make an impact as he was able to win the National powerlifting, European powerlifting and the World powerlifting tournaments in the under 90kg event.

And he hopes for even more success on the horizon.