Oliphant’s Academy of Physical Culture

I had a chance to visit the oldest gym in North America while taking a trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. William “Bill” Oliphant Sr was born in 1893 and founded the gym in 1913. His grandfather was a strongman and Bill was interested in Physical Culture since boyhood.

The gym has a wonderful blend of modern and vintage equipment. The vintage equipment includes fixed weight Milo Barbells, a blend of vintage dumbbells and benches. It is supplemented with modern dumbbells, bumper plates, functional trainer and barbells. The decor sets it apart with drawings of the classic strongmen and performers of the time.

Nisha and I had a great workout with some bench press, cleans, seated rows, back extensions, pull-ups and alternating dumbbell curls.

One of the trainers Andrew was kind enough to share a few stories including how women were allowed to train at Oliphant’s when no other facility would let them train. All were welcome and life outside the gym was checked at the door. Judges and criminals could lift side by side. I also discovered a neck strengthener of a fashion I had never seen before.

The gym which is now a non-profit run by the members for the members preserves the history of physical culture in North America as the United States All-Round Weightlifting Associations preserves the history of the original forms of weightlifting.

Have you had any interesting physical culture experiences lately? Consider drafting an article and submitting to usawasec@gmail.com for publication on the website. Accomplishing our mission of preserving the history of the original forms of weightlifting depends on all of us.

Repetition Rampage Record Day Results

By Jarrod Fobes

Nine lifters took part in The Repetition Rampage Record Day completing 16 lifts. Gender adjustments were not included since male and female lifters were not in competition with each other. Raw Lynch points and age adjusted points are included, although it may be easiest to use the raw points for both age and all-age records. The Trap Bar Deadlift was a popular choice! Feedback was positive and it’s clear that we have some work to do in clarifying the rules for repetition lifts. The rules we agreed on at High Country Vigour were as follows:

-No time limit
-No more than a two second pause
-Lifter must maintain a lifting grip and lifting posture
-A call of “no lift” ends the set
-The official will substitute a rep count for the “down” command

Some lifters chose to keep time either out of uncertainty of the rules or just out of interest. Perhaps one day we will establish speed records, but for now our esteemed Record Keeper has enough on his plate. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their thoughts. This has the potential to grow into an exciting new aspect of All-Round Weightlifting.

Lifter NameAgeWeightLift EventWeight & RepsTotal LbsRaw Lynch Points
Dan Jones42200 lbsTrap Bar Deadlift200 lbs × 28 reps5,600 lbs4,972.24 PTS
Frank Ciavattone71265 lbsHip Lift525 lbs × 100 reps52,500 lbs40,582.50 PTS
Jarrod Fobes49217 lbsFinger Lift (R Thumb)54 lbs × 10 reps540 lbs458.84 PTS
Jarrod Fobes49217 lbsFinger Lift (R Little)75 lbs × 11 reps825 lbs701.00 PTS
Jarrod Fobes49217 lbsFinger Lift (R Index)99 lbs × 15 reps1,485 lbs1,261.80 PTS
Jarrod Fobes49217 lbsFinger Lift (R Middle)120 lbs × 10 reps1,200 lbs1,019.64 PTS
Jarrod Fobes49217 lbsFinger Lift (R Ring)104 lbs × 10 reps1,040 lbs883.69 PTS
Jeff Wenzel51231 lbsAnderson Squat555 lbs × 5 reps2,775 lbs2,293.26 PTS
Jessica Hopps42157 lbsTrap Bar Deadlift160 lbs × 20 reps3,200 lbs3,307.52 PTS
Kim Van Wagner59129 lbsClean and Press, Middle Fingers35 lbs × 21 reps735 lbs850.98 PTS
Kim Van Wagner59129 lbsGardner – Full25 lbs × 6 reps150 lbs173.67 PTS
Randy Smith (Unofficial)*71202 lbsTrap Bar Deadlift204 lbs × 25 reps5,100 lbs4,500.24 PTS
Sanjiv Gupta55208 lbsTrap Bar Deadlift210 lbs × 16 reps3,360 lbs2,918.83 PTS
Sanjiv Gupta55208 lbsPress, from Rack100 lbs × 6 reps600 lbs521.22 PTS
Sanjiv Gupta55208 lbsBench Press, Feet in Air135 lbs × 11 reps1,485 lbs1,290.02 PTS
Sanjiv Gupta55208 lbsFront Squat135 lbs × 9 reps1,215 lbs1,055.47 PTS
Wade Marchard56164 lbsTrap Bar Deadlift167 lbs × 31 reps5,177 lbs5,202.88 PTS

*Note: Randy Smith did not have an official present for this lift.

2026 USAWA AWARD Winners: Sportsman of the Year (Women)

Last year, Allison Lupo was the Newcomer of the Year. However, this year, she was voted as the 2026 USAWA Sportsman of the year in the Women’s Division. She certainly embodies the definition of the word sportsman as person who behaves sportingly, which is to say in a fair or generous manner (pictured below). A sportsman is someone you think of that is never loud, someone who helps make the meet run in the background and doesn’t seek credit, and someone who picks up their teammates. She also pushes herself to do her best at each meet and take quiet joy in success and accepts that not every lift will be successful. She finished her referee training and is now a lifetime certified USAWA referee. As a referee, she calls ‘em as she sees ‘em and nice and loud. And she doesn’t give unfair breaks – even to family members (and I appreciate that since it keeps me sharp!). Allison has been an athlete her whole life. In her youth she was a tennis and softball star. She found out she has a real talent for the USAWA’s unique brand of lifts. Allison learns the techniques real well and real fast. Better than other members of the household! She’s always been strong and has managed to pile up nearly 300 USAWA records which is good enough for 3rd all-time in the Women’s Division! She’s a valued part of the Clark’s Gym team. In her daily life, she manages the kitchen at Our Lady of Lourdes elementary school, and her strength and endurance helps keep the cafeteria in line. She also manages to keep her household in line. This guy is thankful to have a strong and beautiful spouse. Congratulations to Allison as the 2026 USAWA Sportsman of the Year for the Women’s Division! 

2026 Presidential Cup

This year’s Presidential Cup had one lifter. Mike Locondro was the winner of the Presidential Cup and did 5 very good lifts. I didn’t lift because I was the only official.

Mike Locondro – 63 – 209 Lbs. – 95 Kg. Class [60-64]

Vertical Bar, 2 Bars- 2″ – 230 Lbs.
Deadlift – Fingers – Middle – 121 Lbs.
Hack Lift – Fulton Bar – 154 Lbs.
Jefferson – Fulton Bar – 220 Lbs.
Habecker Lift – 209 Lbs.

Lifter of the Month, July 2026, Nevaeh Traub

The 250 for the 250th was the only meet contested in July, but we did have the results published for the National Championship and the Q2 Postal.

Nevaeh Traub earned lifter of the month with her outstanding performance at the National Championship.  Her 529-pound total was good for first place junior women and first place overall women.  All four lifts were records and the 205-pound Deadlift, No Thumbs, Overhand Grip was an ALL and NAT record.

This is Nevaeh’s first all-round competition and she would make a strong case for newcomer of the year if she keeps competing.

Congratulations Nevaeh!

Do you know a USAWA member who should be recognized as lifter of the month? Send nominations to the acting Secretary at usawasec@gmail.com

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