Australian Kettlebell Club Championships



Emily takes the participants through the rules for the day

 This past weekend, on Saturday the 21st of April, 2012, the Australian Kettlebell Club had what we would consider to be our first official competition in Melbourne, Australia. The day was a huge success for both the Australian Kettlebell Club, and all of our participants.

To our knowledge this was the largest Kettlebell Sport competition held in Australia to date, with many lifters making the effort to travel from interstate to compete. We were even fortunate enough to have two lifters make the journey from Singapore to compete! Proof that this sport is growing in the Asia Pacific and will continue to do so into the future.

10 minutes doesn't usually feel so long...

Held at the Iron Edge facility in Glen Iris, Melbourne (www.ironedge.com.au), room was ample for competitors and a surprisingly large audience, and being fortunate enough to have access to such a space allowed for traditional events to be run alongside the Pentathlon event (a reasonably new event created by the WKC), resulting in the day running as smoothly as possible to a pre-planned program (no mean feat with so many lifters competing).

No rules were mentioned about matching attire, but their lifting certainly met high standards

                                     
Iron Edge were also kind enough to sponsor this event, meaning that we could recognise the standout lifters of the day with prizes, acknowledging their efforts and dedication to the entire process of competing, from that first moment a bell is lifted in training to the final rep of their sets.



 We have been fortunate enough to see many of the lifters who competed on Saturday start as novices, some being exposed to the sport lifts for the first time through attending a WKC workshop, some attending the weekly classes that we previously ran on Saturday mornings, and some who had stumbled upon the sport in their own way and have developed to become competent lifters showing huge potential for the future. It is inspiring to watch these people progress, and they can only improve from here.



Anna Papij (left) works hard through her LC set



Just some of the stand out performances on the day included Tiffany Cowie's biathlon sets, Ed Perrett's incredible technique from the first to last rep in his 24kg long cycle set, Simon Hikaka's massive effort in the Pentathlon,  Andyn Kadir's beautiful biathlon technique and many others setting personal bests or competing for the very first time which can be seen as an achievement in itself.

The aim of this competition was to try to progress competition lifting standards within Australia. The WKC have some of the most stringent competiton requirements and we did our best to ensure that all lifters were aware of these standards and did their best to adhere. Many who competed in the traditional events were even required to rank with a certain weight in their event officially with the WKC before competing. This can be a daunting process, not often being as easy as simply passing on a filmed set and getting the green light to lift. A lifter needs to display competance and a basic standard regarding ability before they can compete with specific weights, and anyone who went through this process prior to competing has definitely earned our respect.

The Judges: unsung heroes of the day

Such standards could not have been upheld without the help of our dedicated judges, who were attentive, reliable, and solid in all of their performances. Without people like Scott Carroll, Tia Vasiljevic, Sam Siebel, Ed Perrett, Simon Hikaka, James Ross and Anna Papij this competition simply could not have happened. We are very fortunate to have these people involved with the AKC, and we can't thank them enough for all of their efforts.

Lifters were awarded on the day in respect to their technical performaces. Often it can be easy to be caught up in the spectacle of watching a lifter perform a huge amount of reps with the heaviest weight that they can. However, technical proficiency and ability should always be priority number one to see the sport progress in countries such as ours where the sport is still in it's infancy, and to ensure that lifters remain safe and injury free. We hope that if if any competitors have taken away anything from the day it is this one lesson.


Awarded lifters for the day were:

Female Biathlon: Tiffany Cowie

Male Biathlon: Andyn Kadir (Singapore)

Female Long Cycle: Anna Papij

Male Long Cycle: Edward Perrett

And a special mention must be made to Simon Hikaka and Jen Fletcher who posted the highest male and female scores in the pentathlon respectively. 

Men's Biathlon, Snatch

The day was a huge success, and we would like to thank every one who competed on the day, helped out in any way that they could, or simply attended and supported the event. It could not have happened without you.

Keep training everyone, September is not very far away...