Today I attended the North Carolina State Kettlebell Championships of USA Kettlebell Lifting. This was a small and very friendly meet. Three lifters competed: John Beamon, from Charlotte, my son Dorian, and myself. Ross Gilling was a great host, treating us to the run of his remarkable gym, EdgeFit in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The atmosphere was competitive and encouraging, and we all had a great time.
John Beamon is a long cycle competitor who is Rank III in both long cycle and biathlon with the World Kettlebell Club. He’s a strong lifter, and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He competed in the double jerk and the one arm long cycle with the 20k bells. His goal was to rank in each lift, and he had no trouble with this, completing 40 double jerks (a PR after his previous best of 30!), and 66 one arm clean and jerks. Great job, John!
Dorian Mathews is a young lifter just starting out. He competed in the one arm long cycle with a 12 pound kettlebell, and got 74 reps. His technique needs some coaching, as this was his first attempt at kettlebell lifting. He’s off to a great start! John and Ross were very encouraging to him. He’s 10, and weighs 64 pounds.
I earned rank VI in the double jerk, hitting 56 reps at a bodyweight of 178 pounds. I had hoped to drop a couple of pounds for the meet to get back into the 176 division, but I didn’t. A look at the ranking records on www.usakl.com indicates that no man has ever earned rank in all four lifts, until today. I’ll be sending my video to Nico for official ranking, but it looks like I’m the first man to hold a rank in all four lifts! Now, to hold higher ranks in all four lifts!
As in my past experience, kettlebell people are great folks to know! I look forward to competing at Cyrus Peterson’s Throwdown meet in Charlotte in June. Until then, I'll keep training! What's your goal? What are you doing to make it happen?
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