BONNYVILLE – A trio of Bonnyville powerlifters travelled to Vancouver earlier this month to compete with Team Alberta among Canada’s strongest athletes in the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s (CPU) National event.
All three Bonnyville athletes, Janine Hebert, Jim Nahirniak and Carole Vachon, returned home with national hardware from their respective groups and weight classes after competing in the Unequipped 3-Lift category on Feb. 14.
Lifting a combined total weight of 437.5 kg, Vachon placed second in the M1 84-kg group. The weight she lifted this year was 25 kg more than what won her a silver medal at the 2020 National Championships.
After only 366 days competing in powerlifting, Nahirniak attended his first national event – where he took home silver in his category.
“Nationals was a year and a day since I first competed on Feb. 13, 2022,” said Nahirniak. In just one year, the 59-year-old was able to rack up enough points at smaller powerlifting meets to earn his spot on Team Alberta and be eligible to compete at Nationals.
Nahirniak took second place in Vancouver after lifting a combined weight of 442.5 kg in the M2 74-kg group.
M1 represents those between the ages of 40 to 49, while M2 spans athletes between the ages of 50 to 59.
Hebert took home bronze in her M1 84-kg plus group after lifting a combined weight of 437.5 kg. The combined lifts were not her best showing at Nationals. In 2020, Hebert earned the title of national champion in her category following a final lift of 442.5 kg.
“The squats didn't go the way I wanted them to, but my bench-press was perfect. And I was like, ‘If I'm only going to take away a bronze medal, I'm happy with that’,” acknowledged Hebert. “My whole nationals for me, it was just that I can bench 220.5 lbs. (100 kg). It was just such a big deal.”
The draw of strength
For every powerlifter, the reason to lift may be different but for most the adrenaline and the feeling of growing stronger is enough to keep athletes pushing harder to lift more.
"Getting stronger. This is about the strongest I have ever been in my life,” Nahirniak told Lakeland This Week, while working out at the Bonnyville and District Centennials Centre (C2) following his silver medal finish.
While it would seem that the group of three spends as much time, or more, laughing and joking as they do lifting weights, the muscles they are building and the soreness they feel has them coming back three times a week for more.
“My coach is like, ‘I don't know how you guys get anything done. You're completely useless,’ because all we do is laugh and make fun of ourselves,” added Hebert.
But the comradery in powerlifting is just a bonus. The real draw is competing against yourself and winning, they say.
“I love the feeling of getting stronger because when you earn those lifts, if you're a marathon runner and you earn that time that you've been training for, at the end of the day it's just about us being better than ourselves,” described Hebert. “I'm not competing against other women. I'm competitive against the latest results that I've done for myself.”
Since Hebert and Vachon began training in powerlifting in 2017, they have noticed a shift in the demographics of those who are using the weight room at the C2.
More women and younger women have started taking up space and using the equipment, they say.
“The sport is exploding right now,” said Vachon, comparing the sport to when she first started powerlifting in high school during the 90s.
“Women are taking up their space as they should,” added Hebert. “I think it's that we can be of any age, any size, any gender. When you go to meets and you see the diversity in body types of powerlifters – it's beautiful.”
So, what’s next for this group of Bonnyville powerlifters?
Hebert said it would be her dream to start a Bonnyville Powerlifting Club that welcomes people of all ages and teaches them how to lift safely and encourages more people to compete.
“I'm always excited when a person likes to lift, I'm even doubly excited when it's a female,” Hebert added with a chuckle.
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