RESULTS:

BENCH:    280lbs.

    1ST PLACE 132 lb. WEIGHT CLASS

    BEST FEMALE BENCH PRESS

    UNOFFICIAL WORLD BENCH PRESS RECORD

    UNOFFICIAL AMERICAN BENCH PRESS RECORD

Jen had planned to do a full powerlifting meet to include squat, bench, and deadlift. Unfortunately, about 2 weeks before the meet she broke her ankle. Jennifer was wake boarding and tried a new jump. While landing awkwardly from about 6 to 8 feet in the air she hurt her ankle. Initially, she thought it was just sprained, but within 30 minutes she could put no weight on her foot. X-rays that night in the Emergency Room showed a broken ankle. At the Orthopedist visit the next day came the bad news. A cast boot for 8 weeks and the first 5 weeks would be on crutches without being able to even touch her foot to the ground. So much for the squat and deadlift!

Jen called the meet director and explained the bad news. He said no problem she could come to the meet anyway and just bench. Training was difficult, especially with her not being able to put any weight on her ankle. Jen was determined to bench well however, with a lot of friends and family slated to watch her lift. Apparently, more people were counting on her to lift then she knew. The meet director had gone outside usual lifting protocol, which would have had Jen lifting in the morning, and had her lifting with the heavyweight men in the afternoon. Jen asked him why he had her lifting with the heavyweight men and he told her he was trying to promote the sport and wanted her to lift when the beach would be the busiest and added “you lift as much as the guys do anyway”.

When it finally came time for Jen to bench the sun was high in the sky and it was a beautiful day. Warm-ups went great and having all the friends and family around kept her very relaxed. Lifting was going to be very interesting, with the competition being held outdoors the lifters had to wear sunglasses to block the glare. In addition, Jen had to hop on one foot, back and forth to the bench, between lifts. This was quite a sight to see and brought many laughs from the crowd.

Jen took 255 lbs. for her first attempt, she lifted this so easy that there was a collective gasp from the crowd followed by a cheer so loud that she didn’t hear the judge yell for her to rack the weight from 2 feet away. Jen asked for 270 lbs. on her second attempt, which would tie her World Record. One of the spotters for her lift was the 132 lb. men’s champion from earlier in the day. As Jen came (hopped) up for her attempt he turned to one of the judges and said, “this is more than I lift, if she gets this I quit”. The judge retorted quickly, “don’t be discouraged, this is just World Class lifting at it’s finest”. She got the 270 with some effort, which was more than any female competitor by 70 pounds and more then all the men up to 148 lbs. Don’t forget Jen only weighs 132 pounds herself.

Now came the big weight, 280 pounds. Jen had never tried this in competition before and it would be a new unofficial World and American Record. Her preparation was good. Connor and Devan, her younger brother and sister had kept her pretty loose in between attempts. She took the weight easily from the rack, the bar went down easy, and then …….. did not move. The spotters took the bar and as she got up she emphatically said “ I can get that” apparently she had set the bar down to high up towards her neck. She immediately asked for a forth attempt and because it was for a world record weight the director said okay. After all the big guys were done they gave Jen one more shot at 280 and the unofficial World Record. By now a large crowd had really started to gather and was getting pretty loud and I’m sure curious to see if a girl could really lift all that weight. Again, she hopped to the bench still with her sunglasses on, and the laughs were getting louder as the crowd grew. Jen settled under the 280-pound bar, took the weight from the rack, and was given the start command. The weight went down to her chest, paused for a second and came back up as fast as it went down. Suddenly the previous laughs had turned to awe inspired screaming and cheering from around 300 onlookers for what would be an unofficial World Record. Not bad for only one good leg!!!

It was nice to be home and a special thanks to everyone that came and supported Jen at the meet.