Man-mountain Reuben Simanu celebrated a New Zealand record 300kg lift at the Oceania Bench Press Championships in Whangarei by indulging in a massive meal. The Whakatane lifter, who weighs 152kg and stands 1.88m tall, had a personal best bench press of 280kg leading into the event. But after easily lifting 275kg onhis first attempt in front of a packed house at the Kensington Stadium's ASB Leisure Centre at the weekend, Simanu attempted 300kg which had never been done by a New Zealand man before. "He got off balance and missed his first attempt which was a big disappointment," event organiser Brian Froggatt said. However Simanu refocused and in a tension-charged atmosphere nailed his second attempt "quite easily" as the fans erupted. Simanu then failed at a world record attempt of 321kg, pushing the weight halfway up before being unable to go any further. Every big man has a big appetite and Simanu is no different. He helped himself to healthy doses of a smorgasbord meal featuring chicken and seafood at the prizegiving later that evening. "He ate quite a lot," Froggatt said. Simanu, who began lifting in 1994 to help recover from a rugby injury, was also awarded first place overall at the Oceania Championships on a bodyweight to strength ratio. Northland lifters excelled on their home patch, winning the men's and women's teams bench press titles while New Zealand beat Australia narrowly in the international battle. Northland's star was Kaitaia's Stan Day who won the men's open 100kg class, bench pressing 210kg, just 6.5kg short of his New Zealand record. Five Northland women - Trish Muldrock, Morgan Lovatt, Julie Hallmond, Karen Thomson and Taari Murray - set national records in their respective weight and age divisions. Northland's Stan Hallmond and Brian Froggatt also broke New Zealand records in masters classes while Kerikeri brothers Gary and Shane Lowe and Kaitaia's Sam Aicken set national junior records. Eighty lifters from five countries competed at the Oceania championship event. Because it was a new competition, Oceania records were set automatically by the winners of every class.
