Monthly Archives: November 2010

Would you like your records?

by Al Myers

Joe Garcia, the OFFICIAL USAWA RECORD DIRECTOR,  has notified me that he will provide anyone’s individual records to them if they want them.  This will allow you to see what USAWA Records you actually have!  Joe has worked hard on the Record List lately and has it completely up to date.  Please contact Joe directly at jgarcia@usawa.com to request your list.

Joe also sent me a listing of the prior  USAWA events which contain OVER 100 USAWA Records.  Of course, this is the records still on the books.  Very likely more records were set or established at the time, but have been broken since.  We have no way of identifying the number of records SET at the time of these old meets.  Just like the old saying goes “records are meant to be broken” – once gone they’re gone.  But it is still very interesting in seeing which events have the most.  To date, over 100 USAWA Records are in the Record List from 9 competitions – and very fitting the number one competition is the 1995 IAWA World Championships in Eastlake, Ohio directed by Howard Prechtel!

USAWA Events with Over 100 Records

1.  151 Records – 1995 IAWA World Championships in Eastlake, Ohio

2.  139 Records – 1991 IAWA World Championships in Collegeville, Pennsylvania

3.  125 Records – 2003 USAWA National Championships in Youngstown, Ohio

4.  119 Records – 2004 USAWA National Championships in Lansdale, Pennsylvania

5.  119 Records – 2005 USAWA National Championships in Youngstown, Ohio

6.  113 Records – 2002 IAWA World Championships in Lebanon, Pennsylvania

7.  111 Records – 1999 USAWA National Championships in Ambridge, Pennsyvania

8.  109 Records – 2010 JWC Record Breakers in Kirksville, Missouri

9.  106 Records – 1990 USAWA National Championships in Akron, Ohio

National Grip Championships

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

THE USAWA NATIONAL GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

Andy Durniat won the 2010 Dino Gym Grip Challenge. Will he return to defend his title and win the FIRST EVER USAWA National Grip Championships? In this picture Andy is setting the USAWA All-TIme best lift of 140 kilograms in the One Arm No Thumb Deadlift.

The Dino Gym Grip Meet was such a HUGE SUCCESS last year –  we decided to do it again this year.   The tradition of grip challenges have been around quite a while in the USAWA – thanks to Kevin Fulton’s grip meets.   However, this year the USAWA has taken  grip competitions to “a new level” as the USAWA Executive Board approved this meet as the USAWA National Grip Championships.  This is the FIRST TIME the USAWA will have a Grip Nationals – the start of a NEW tradition that I hope will continue for many years.

Considering this is a National Championships, a few things had to be done with this meet in order to fulfill our established USAWA rules of conducting a championship.  First of all, only Official USAWA Lifts can be in a Nationals – thus NO exhibition lifts.  However, we have a host of great grip lifts in our Rule Book so this was not a problem.  Second, traditional scoring will be done with age and body-weight corrections on the “total weight” lifted.  And thirdly, all individual body-weight classes and age divisions will be contested for National Championship Awards.

The lifts are:

Pinch Grip

Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 bar, 2″, One Hand

Deadlift – Middle Fingers

Deadift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip

Deadlift – 3″ Bar

The 2011 National Grip Championships will be on Saturday, February 12th, 2011. Luckily this year the second weekend of February avoided Valentine’s Day!  For an ENTRY FORM (pdf) – NationalGripEntry

Christmas Extravaganza RB

by Dave Glasgow

Cancelled-

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

LEDAIG HEAVY ATHLETICS

PRESENTS:

CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA

USAWA RECORD BREAKERS

18 DEC.-2010 1330 HRS.

RAINBOW BEND, KS, USA

THIS EVENT WILL BE IN A HEATED BUILDING!

FOLLOWING THE EVENT, A CATERER MEAL WILL BE PROVIDED, AS WELL AS LIBATIONS!!

PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ATTEND. I WOULD ALSO REQUEST AN RSVP.

QUESTIONS? DGLASGOW@COX.NET

SEE YOU THERE!!

Dino Gym Record Day

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

DINO GYM RECORD DAY

Meet Director: Al Myers and the Dino Gym

Meet Date:  Sunday, February 13th, 2011  10:00 AM-4:00PM

Location:  Dino Gym, Abilene, Kansas

Sanction:  USAWA

Entry Form:  None – just show up

Entry Fee: None

Lifts:  Record Day – Pick any lifts you can set a USAWA record in!

Contact me at amyers@usawa.com if you have any questions.

Habecker’s Gym is Leading USAWA Club

by Al Myers

Denny Habecker (left), leader of Habecker's Gym and Art Montini (right), leader of Ambridge BBC relax together prior to this past year's National Championship. From the looks of this friendly picture, it's hard to tell that their clubs are in a heated battle for the 2010 USAWA Club of the Year.

As most of you know, one of the new programs I developed last year was the USAWA Club Award Program.  I did this for the main reason of encouraging club participation in the USAWA, with the hope that clubs will become more actively involved.  I really believe the future success of the USAWA lies with clubs.  The many lifts we do are difficult to learn and it takes someone who is experienced in All-Round Weightlifting to be able to mentor and teach others, which happens in a club environment.  It also takes a clubs support to be able to host and promote competitions.  I know I couldn’t put on the meets I do at the Dino Gym if it wasn’t for the support of the gym’s membership.  These guys provide “the muscle” needed to make a meet setup successful.  Often all the work they do is “behind the scenes” – but they know how much I appreciate them!!

I am VERY PROUD to say that this year MORE CLUBS are registered as “member clubs” of the USAWA than ever before in the history of the USAWA.  We have 10 clubs registered!  This makes me extremely happy – because I feel that the promotion of club involvement is working.  So I created a Club Award Program to recognize the clubs that are the most involved.  It is a very straight-forward points program and the points can be calculated directly from information available on the website. The previous year’s winner is not eligible the following year, but is responsible for giving out the award to the next year’s winner at the Annual General Meeting in conjunction with the National Championship.

Club Awards are determined by adding up club points using this 4-Step System:

1. One point awarded to the club for EACH USAWA registered member that lists the club as their affiliated club on their membership application. This designation is also listed beside the members name on the membership roster.

2. Two points awarded to the club for EACH club member that participates in the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup. Points are awarded for each competition, so if one club athlete competes in all three of these big meets it would generate 6 points for the club.

3. Three points awarded to the club for EACH USAWA sanctioned event or competition the club promotes.

4. Four bonus points awarded to the club for promotion of the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup.

Club Award Points to Date (TOP FIVE)

1.  Habecker’s Gym – 26 points

2.  Ambridge BBC – 19 points

3.  Frank’s Barbell Club – 17 points

4.  Clark’s Gym – 16 points

5.  JWC – 12 points

The TIME is not up yet!  Clubs STILL have till the end of the year to add points to their total.

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