Powerlifting record holder to take part in nationals

At just 20, Wānaka local Romy Guichard holds the national and Oceania powerlifting records and this month she is going for the New Zealand championship title.

Last year, Guichard was placed fifth overall at the World Powerlifting Championships in Malta. In doing so, she set the deadlift and squat national records for the under-23 category.

Competing at the world championships meant she missed the national one, despite lifting more than her counterparts.

She can lift almost three times her 73kg weight in the deadlift and squat disciplines.

Having begun lifting competitively only three years ago, she has come a long way from squatting 120kg to 183.5kg, deadlifting 170kg and now 207kg and benching 85kg at the time compared with 100.5kg.

"I was lifting the same weights as my boyfriend, so I thought I would give competing a go."

Compete she has, and Guichard is confident she will grab the title in Hamilton on May 24.

Light for her weight category of the under 76kg group, that had negatives and positives, she said.

The heavier you were, the better for injury prevention, but she also did not have to drop weight or diet before going into a competition.

She has also mastered that which many do not in a lifetime — she is body-positive and proud of the things she can do with it.

"I feel like it has made me accept my body more than I had beforehand. I don’t focus on my body, I focus on growing my muscle.

"It makes me really sad for women to be picking apart their bodies — we are capable of a lot."

Powerlifting had often been perceived in the public eye as a "fat person’s sport", when most powerlifters sat in the smaller weight categories and had very lean and fit body types, she said.

"Sure, if I was body building, I would hate for judges to be looking at me and telling me what they think of my body, but I am happy for them to tell me what they think of my lift."

The French-born gym manager said, while it would be a dream to make money from the sport, it could be some way off.

"Powerlifting itself doesn’t make you money. The sport is still growing, that is the problem. Maybe in ten years we can make money from sponsors, but right now that isn’t the case."

For now, the young athlete gets a real kick out of being able to lift more than her male counterparts and knowing her body can carry a lot of weight.

"When people would say you are lifting a bit of weight there, you get a bit a buzz when people tell you that you are strong."