Tag Archives: Records

Records, Records, Records

by Al Myers

The year is coming to an end and the opportunities to set any more USAWA records for the year is over.  Sure there is still the National Postal Meet, but the results won’t be reported for it until after the first of the year.  In my heart I knew this had to be a good year for the USAWA when it came to “broken records”.  We have had more events than normal and membership has swelled to a level that has not been seen in a long, long time.  So I did a little “counting” in the USAWA Record List and what I found was, VERY INTERESTING!

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to all members in the USAWA who have set new records within the past year.  You are now part of a RECORD BREAKING YEAR.  758 new USAWA records were established in the USAWA Record List.  This now stands in the NUMBER ONE spot of ALL-TIME!  Now this is a count of only the “records on the books” at this time – not the ones established per year as when old records are broken they disappear from the current list.  I also want to mention that in order to set a USAWA Record now you must do it in front of a certified official.  There were several “other marks” done this year at record days and postal meets which could have been records, but weren’t because they weren’t officially judged.  This pulled down the record count for the year, which in the past would have been higher when there were no guidelines on this and “ANY OLE RECORD” was put into the record list.   I’m proud that we have made this year the BEST EVER and have done it with TOUGHER RULES!!

TOP 10 TOTAL RECORD YEARS

RANK YEAR RECORDS
1 2011 758
2 2005 675
3 2002 654
4 2000 563
5 2010 553
6 2006 540
7 2003 518
8 1995 458
9 2004 448
10 1999 434

This brings us to the INDIVIDUAL record counts next.  With a year like this, you would think that the individual record counts would have been increased as well.  I have not reported on individual counts since last July, when I announced the two latest members of the CENTURY CLUB (lifters who hold over 100 USAWA Records) – Rudy Bletscher and Chad Ullom.  Well, the list is still the same lifters, just different count numbers.  There is STILL the 21 members in this exclusive CENTURY CLUB.  Our Prez Denny Habecker still leads the list and the RECORDS RACE with his 410 records, which gives him a pretty comfortable lead over Art Montini at 392 in second place.  The “top ten” is still the same lifters as it was the last time I did the count.

CENTURY CLUB

RANK LIFTER RECORDS
1 Denny Habecker 410
2 Art Montini 392
3 Al Myers 320
4 John McKean 258
5 Joe Garcia 239
6 Dennis Mitchell 229
7 Noi Phumchaona 214
8 Frank Ciavattone 212
9 Bill Clark 206
10 Bob Hirsh 201
11 Howard Prechtel 171
12 Dale Friesz 143
13 Jim Malloy 135
tie Scott Schmidt 135
15 Ed Schock 134
16 John Monk 123
17 Mary McConnaughey 117
18 Chris Waterman 114
19 Rudy Bletscher 108
20 Chad Ullom 104
21 Joshua Monk 101

This lead me to thinking just who set the most records in 2011?  So I did that count as well and below is the TOP TEN record setters of 2011.  I was quite surprised to see Mike Murdock listed with 60 records!  That made me question his total count so I recounted it and he is still short of the CENTURY CLUB.  Mike has been competing in the USAWA for over 3 years now – so how can that be??  Well let me tell you why.  I have lifted in LOTS of meets/record days with Mike and he is constantly breaking his OWN RECORDS.  Mike – that doesn’t help you one bit in your overall count. You need to “go after” records you don’t already own buddy!!!

TOP 10 RECORD COUNT FOR 2011

RANK LIFTER RECORDS
1 Al Myers 83
2 Mike Murdock 60
3 Denny Habecker 40
4 Joe Garcia 31
5 Dean Ross 30
6 Rudy Bletscher 24
tie LaVerne Myers 24
8 Art Montini 22
9 John McKean 20
10 Dennis Mitchell 19

I also want to mention that the USAWA Record List is now over 10,000 line items long!  That is A LOT OF RECORDS! We owe a huge thanks to the USAWA Records Director Joe Garcia for keeping this list up to date for us. Joe has maintained this list for over 20 years!

History of USAWA Records


by Al Myers

I was thinking the other day about the history of the number of records set in the USAWA throughout the years.  Joe Garcia has been the Official Records Chairman since the beginning of the USAWA, and has entered THOUSANDS of records into our Record List. Joe’s efforts on this has been impressive and the USAWA owes him  a lot of thanks for all the work he has done in giving us a 20 plus year Record List.  The list is now approaching 10,000 line items in length.  But, what years have the most records been set in?  This can’t possible be answered because records are continually broken and the list updated, so an absolute count is about impossible for any year except the most current year. However, we can count the records that are STILL on the books from previous years.  Well, I did this and found the results interesting so I am going to share my research with you!

Year Records Year Records
1987 38 1999 453
1988 114 2000 586
1989 154 2001 422
1990 250 2002 682
1991 307 2003 538
1992 294 2004 474
1993 291 2005 702
1994 346 2006 566
1995 468 2007 367
1996 425 2008 360
1997 427 2009 475
1998 433 2010 103


As you can see, 2005 was the year that resulted in the MOST records.  The last three years there has been a drop-off. But it appears 2010 is off to a good start – maybe THIS YEAR will be the year the most records are set??

Congratulations to Dave Glasgow for passing the Official’s Test and becoming an USAWA Official!