Author Archives: Beth Skwarecki

National Championship Records

by Sanjiv Gupta

Al Myers penned a piece on National Records published June 21,2012.  He laid out a case for recognizing special National Records that met a few criteria:

  • Set on the stage of the National Championships – Harder than setting a record at home.
  • Is an ALL age record for the weight class – Age group records are not recognized.

The piece did not consider that the National Record (NAT) set for a given weight class and lift could be exceeded in future competition.  To break the NAT, an athlete would have to exceed not only the NAT but also the current ALL age weight class record.

The 2024 National Championship was certainly amazing and much has been written on the results and overall National Champions Beth Skwarecki and Abe Smith.

I wanted to add my observations on new NAT.  (15) new NAT were set.  (9) on the women’s side and (6) on the men’s side.  Your National Champions, Beth and Abe set (3) NAT each.  Lisa and Stacy both set (2) NAT.  David, Leroy, Lillian, Phoebe and Everett each set one.  As a side note, I was confused as to whether Junior Records count towards ALL records and NAT records.  The historic record list seems inconsistent, but it is also harder to get a snapshot in time of what the ALL record was during that year’s National Championship.

Clean & Press, Fulton Bar (1st time at Nationals)

  • Abe Smith (85kg) – 215 pounds
  • David DeForest (80kg) – 105 pounds
  • Beth Skwarecki (70kg) – 100 pounds
  • Lisa Gore (100kg) – 75 pounds
  • Leroy Todd (60kg) – 50 pounds
  • Lillian Todd (75kg) – 60 pounds
  • Phoebe Todd (65kg) – 50 pounds

Pullover & Press (8th time at Nationals)

  • Abe Smith (85kg) – 295 pounds

Hack Lift (4th time at Nationals)

  • Beth Skwarecki (70kg) – 295 pounds
  • Stacy Todd (90kg) – 200 pounds
  • Everett Todd (50kg) – 125 pounds

Deadlift, Fulton, Ciavattone Grip (2nd time at Nationals)

  • None

Snatch, One Arm, Left/Right (14th time at Nationals)

  • Abe Smith (85kg) – 130 pounds (Left)
  • Stacy Todd (90kg) – 50 pounds (Left)

Zercher Lift (18th time at Nationals)

  • Beth Skwarecki (70kg) – 225 pounds
  • Lisa Gore (100kg) – 90 pounds

As there were only (6) official lifts, only (6) National Records had a chance of being set.  Record Session lifts and Exhibition lifts do not count.  It also gets progressively more difficult to set a National Record as the ALL (age) weight class record tends to be set and bested more frequently.

To date (61) different lifts have been contested at the National Championships.  With left/right designation on the one arm lifts, (72) of (219) lifts in the records list have recognized National Records.

In the early days of the USAWA it was not uncommon to contest (10) different lifts to crown National Champions.  During the last decade (5) or (6) lifts seem to be the norm.

Good luck to all of the rising stars who want to set a National Record.

New records director, records update, and Century Club update!

By Tony Lupo

I am honored to be the new Record Keeper for the USAWA. This is a big job and I hope to live up to the trust put in me by the executive board. I would like to thank my predecessors, John Strangeway and Abe Smith. They did a great job keeping the list intact. It is a huge job.

I also want to thank Sanjiv Gupta for his help as well. Since the Nationals, Sanjiv, Abe, and I have acted as a team in all things. The records are now up-to-date through the Second Quarter Postals (6/30/2024). If you spot any errors in your records, let me know! I can be reached at lupoa0313@gmail.com.

We should have some rapid updates coming out in the next week as we work through July, then August, and September. After we get caught up, then we’ll tackle the TEAM LIFT file.

Welcome and congratulations to newcomers Stacy Todd and Allison Lupo to the Century Club on the Women’s side! On the men’s side, welcome and congratulations to Clint Poore, John Carter, and Joshua Monk! Thank you all! 

Memorial Record Day (Lebanon, PA)

Once again our president, Denny Habecker, has sanctioned the Memorial Record Day.  This meet honors our former USAWA members who have passed over the years.  As ET wrote last year: Some that immediately come to mind are our friends Art Montini, Mike Murdock, Dean Ross, and John McKean.  I know there are many others, and too many to list for our purposes here.  At any rate, it is a great way for us to honor those who have come before us in the organization.  Here are the meet details:

Date: December 14, 2024

Location:   Habecker’s Gym, Lebanon, PA

Please contact Denny if you plan on attending to remember these great people and set or break some USAWA records. You can email him at liftingliar@comcast.net

IAWA World Postal Championships results – updated

by Al Myers

These results were first posted on 9/11/2024, but Al later wrote to me: “There was an error by the US Postal Service in which one club’s entries did not make it to my address.  I felt it was the right thing to do to have these entries added to the World Postal Championships.” The updated results are below.

Another great year for the IAWA World Postal Championships!! 

This year we had 55 lifters compete from the United States, Australia, and England. This World Postal Championships is one of  three (with the World Championships and the Gold Cup being the other two) promoted by IAWA. I want to REALLY thank all  those that participated. Your participation is what makes this a great event! As per the tradition the past few years, the lifts of  the first day Worlds were contested. I’ve included best lifters, individual overall rankings, 3 person team rankings, and club  rankings. 

The Overall Best Lifter was ABE SMITH, followed by CHLOE BRENNAN and RJ JACKSON. The Overall Best 3-person Team went  to BURTON’S POWERHOUSE (Chloe Brennan, Josh Davidson, Matt Jones). The Overall Best Club went to CLARK’S GYM, which  had 14 members participate. The Overall Best Association went to the USAWA, with the IAWAUK in second, and the ARWF in  third.  

The youngest lifter that entered was LOGAN WENZEL at 9 years of age. The oldest lifter was BILL CLARK at 92 years of age!  The highest total weight lifted was by MATT JONES with 465 kilos.  

If anyone notices any errors in these results please let me know as soon as possible so I can get things corrected. Sometimes I  have difficulties reading the handwriting on the official scoresheets.  

Again, I want to thank everyone for entering this meet and making it an outstanding annual event in IAWA.

Full results are attached below.

2024-World-Postal-Results-1Download
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