MERVIN Moses is definitely one of the strongest men in Guyana, and on Sunday at the Critchlow Labour College he proved it when he captured his third consecutive Best Lifter’s title at the National Senior Powerlifting Championships.
Using the Wilks formula, Moses finished ahead of big John Edwards - who last year became the first man to officially bench-press over 500 lb - and Randolph Morgan respectively.
Dawn Barker finished the best female lifter at the competition. She is the first woman lifter on record to compete in the 275 lb category.
Barker finished with 595.76 points, squatting 446¼, bench-pressing 209¼ and dead-lifting 380¼. Finishing second to Barker was Kimberly Mars, with Lynette Lewis in third place.
This year it was no easy task for Moses who trains at Buddy’s Gym. He said that winning was very important to him, since he was unsure about his fitness leading up to the competition.
“I sustained an injury to my back about a month ago and for three weeks I was unable to train,” Moses told Chronicle Sport.
Along with the overall title, Moses copped the 181½-lb weight division trophy, finishing ahead of Morgan. The now three-time champion squatted 677¾ 1b, bench-pressed 341½ lb and dead-lifted 573 lb.
The 677¾ is a new record. He broke his own record of 633¾ made last year with a 644¾ squat then in his final attempt he successfully squatted 30 lb more.
Another record in squats went to Edwards who racked up 743¾, 11 lb more that his previous record of 732¾ made in 2002 at Thirst Park.
In the bench press category, Morgan demolished Charles Henry’s record of 352½ in the 181½ lb category with a press of 396¾ lb. Henry lost another record in bench press. His 374¾ made in 2004 in the 198-lb category was eclipsed by Karel Mars who pressed 380¼.
In the 114 category, Ryan Solomon finished first with a squat of 303, bench press of 159¾ and a dead lift of 352½. Finishing second was Boodhram Singh who squatted 281 lb, bench-pressed 148¾ and dead-lifted 325. In the 148.5-lb category Mohammed Rosan claimed the winning trophy, squatting 435¼, bench-pressing 209 ¼ and dead-lifting 457¼. Second place went to Marcus Beete 336 (Sq.), 198¼ (BP) and 440¾ (DL).
In the 165 lb category Winston Stoby finished first with 551 (Sq.), 286½ (Bp) and 595 (DL). Second place went to Bhojkumar Jagnarine (540 (Sq), 303 (Bp) and 540 (DL). Moses won the 181-lb category while the 198 was won by Charles Henry 578½ (Sq.) 352½ (Bp) and 606¼ (DL). Karel Mars (573 (Sq.), 380 (Bp) and 584 (DL)) finished second in that category while Ray Harvey finished third.
In the 220 weight category, Lancelot Baptiste (606¼ (Sq), 325 (Bp) and 655 (DL) finished ahead of Farook Abdool (584 (Sq), 341½ (Bp) and 540 (DL). Rawlston Watson won the 242-lb category with a 551 (Sq) 325 (Bp) and 606¼ (DL). Second place went to Dwayne Ferdinand 475¾ (Sq), 374¾ (Bp) and 567½ (DL).
John Edwards who was the lone competitor in the 275-lb category finished with a squat of 743¾, a bench press of 490½ and a dead lift of 655¾.