“But there are other girls who are more experienced in that class, and New Zealand take only the top two girls. I might have a better chance of making the team if I move up to u75kg.”
Gisborne CrossFit gym backgroundDrain, who comes from a Gisborne CrossFit gym background, started her career in weightlifting when she moved to Auckland last year.
The former Gisborne Girls’ High School student joined the crossfit gym Functional Strength, where New Zealand Commonwealth Games representatives Richie and Pip Patterson train.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Richie won the silver medal in the 85kg weightlifting event.
Four years later, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he won the gold medal in the same event.
He was New Zealand’s flagbearer in the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.
Patterson married Pip (nee Hales), who competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she placed fifth in the u53kg category.
Pip, who won a gold medal at the 2016 Oceania champs and bronze at the Commonwealth Championships (2016), will represent New Zealand at this year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
It was at Functional Strength gym that Drain discovered a passion for Olympic weightlifting.
“The club, which has 60 weightlifters, was short of one member to attend a competition in Dunedin and they asked me if I would go.
“At first I was reluctant, as I had never competed on stage where all the focus is on you, and that’s something I’m working hard at overcoming.
“In crossfit there’s a lot more hype from the audience and you’re competing as a member of a team. In weightlifting it’s very quiet and seems way more serious. Even though I was nervous, I enjoyed the experience.”
While back home from university on holiday, Drain trained at the CrossFit Gisborne and CrossFit Mauri gyms.
Tina McKinlay, of the CrossFit Mauri gym and programme facilitator (child and youth) for Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, said Drain had told them she found it difficult lifting on the platform “where you get three attempts in each of the snatch and clean-and-jerk”.
“The pressure of lifting in front of everyone is daunting and the last time she attempted to lift she missed all her lifts,” McKinlay said.
“We asked Holly if we could re-create the same environment in order for her to put in some practice in lifting on the platform and she agreed, so we organised a community event and encouraged anyone who would like to help Holly, as a spectator or a lifter themselves, to come along.
The event was held at CrossFit Mauri, and Drain lifted 65kg in the snatch, and 84kg in the clean-and-jerk.
“She’s now striving for what most of us would only dream about . . . representing New Zealand,” McKinlay said.
“Although Holly is not a member of CrossFit Mauri, we are happy to support her while she’s home on holiday.”
Drain, a former triathlete and mountainbiker, said she took up crossfit to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and the challenge the sport presented.
“I still enjoy crossfit but my real passion now is weightlifting,” she said.
“Doing the mock-up event at Crossfit Mauri has given me more confidence in being on my own on the platform in front of spectators.
“This is my last chance to qualify for New Zealand as a junior so I want to give it everything between now and March.
“I’m training three times a day, between one and two hours each day then resting one or two days, depending on how the body feels.
“I train early morning, then at lunchtime, then in the evening, and study all day and at the weekends.
“It’s hard work but so far I’m managing training and studying.”
Finding the right balanceDrain said it took a little while to find the right balance in her diet.
She follows a gluten-free regimen and is allergic to dairy products.
“I eat a lot of rice, kumara, veges and meat,” she said.
“My coaches have also told me to turn my nervousness, about lifting in front of people and the silence at competitions, to my advantage.
“It’s about putting the work into training and then, at the North Island champs, focusing that energy into positive thoughts.
“The support I’ve got from the gyms in Gisborne and Auckland has been fantastic.
“Training in Auckland against better and more experienced weightlifters and taking on board their advice can only benefit me, and hopefully I can achieve my dream of representing New Zealand.”
