On the 14th of December the first NZGSA team competed overseas, at the Ketacademy World Grand Prix series in Melbourne, Australia.
Michelle ‘Molotov’ Byczkow and Heath Bowman donned the black shirt and lifted their hearts out in warm, humid conditions at Kettlebell Athletica. The weekend started with a last-ditch attempt from Molotov to make weight, hour upon hour spent in the sauna at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, but to no avail. So after a re-feed on Saturday night it was time to compete on Sunday morning. Molotov competed in 68kg+ Long Cycle with 20kg, Heath in 73kg Long Cycle with 24kg.
The competition was strong on the day, Anton Anasenko performed 90 reps in Long Cycle with 32kg, one rep off the world record! Sergey Rachinskiy lifted in the amateur division Long Cycle 24kg and destroyed the competition as might be expected. He then went on to compete in the Jerk Marathon, 961 reps with 24kg! There were many great performances with several CMS ranks handed out and a strong presence from Don Grant’s Rockhard Kettlebells Bendigo team.
Michelle finished up with 50 reps, a long way from her PB but a good effort on the day considering the lead-up circumstances, dealing with a back injury and trying to sweat out weight is not ideal prep. Heath made 75 reps, enough for 24kg CMS with Ketacademy and one rep short of PB. Both enjoyed the experience and are looking to come back even stronger for the next competition. A huge thanks to Jad Marinovic for hosting the comp!
If you would like to have the chance to represent NZ in this growing sport please get in touch with us! NZGSA is in the planning stages of regional competitions for 2015 and always looking for the next promising athletes to help represent NZ on the world stage. Let’s build a team together.