EVERYTHING Kerikeri powerlifter Shane Lowe touched over the weekend turned to gold.
The 17-year-old broke one Oceania record, three Commonwealth records and three New Zealand records in his class at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Christchurch - on his way to picking up a total haul of four gold medals.
Competing in
the 90kg sub-junior (under-18) class, Lowe's squat of 245kg nabbed him three records, eclipsing his previous best lift of 252.5kg at World Junior Championships in France in September.
His efforts in the bench press, where he bettered his previous best of 135kg with a 147.5kg lift, was just as impressive.
In the dead lift, Lowe raised the records and his own previous best by just a few kilograms, setting a new record of 230kg.
His three-lift points tally of 630 earned him a fourth gold medal - and again this total was a New Zealand and Commonwealth record.
Lowe's success in his final year of competition in the sub-junior category is just what he was aiming for before his move into the junior or under-23 category, where he will be, at least initially, a small fish in a big pond.
His trainer, Anthony Warren, said he was one of the most talented prospects in New Zealand powerlifting.
"Shane is an easy guy to train, you just set him a target and he just goes for it until he gets there," Warren said. "He'll be missed when he goes to Otago University next year but he'll be looking to stay involved with powerlifting down there."
The four-day championships drew a hefty turnout - 188 lifters, from 16 nations.
Fellow Kerikeri lifter Trish Muldrock also broke two records at the championships. Lifting in the 48kg masters (50-plus) category, she broke the 110kg squat Commonwealth and national record and her 82.5kg bench press was an official world record.
It is a most satisfying result for Muldrock, previously denied a world record for the same weight because drug-testing was not available at the earlier contest.
Her best deadlift was 127.5 kg, and, although not a record, it still won her the title of best masters lifter at the contest. Muldrock was also awarded second place, in the overall women's lifter competition at the event.
