Commonwealth Games: Dream come true for weightlifter brothers

Lou Guinares (left) and brother Ianne think being together in Glasgow will help them compete. Photo / Dean Purcell

Lou Guinares remembers his experience at the Delhi Commonwealth Games as "pretty much like a blur".

The Auckland weightlifter bagged six national records in his 56kg division in finishing seventh.

It's not that he didn't enjoy it, but he's hoping to get more out of the Glasgow Games next month and the presence of his older brother, Ianne, is sure to help that. After all, it was Ianne who got his younger sibling into the sport while at Penrose High School.

"This is a dream come true," Lou, 24, said yesterday. "At the last Commonwealth Games that was our goal, to go together. But Ianne just missed selection."

The brothers, born in the Philippines, came to New Zealand in 2004. It was Ianne, 26, who made the first steps into weightlifting.

"My brother just went along and watched. We had just assumed it was only for the big guys.

"The coach said he would be great for this and he should come and try it. Within less than two years Ianne broke national records for that junior division. Ianne said I should come along and give it a try.

"When he went up to 62kg, I stayed at 56kg and then I broke his records."

Brotherly love. Lou Guinares holds the national 56kg records at 95kg (snatch), set at the Auckland championships last year, 124kg (clean and jerk) and 218kg total, both established at the Delhi Games in 2010.

Ianne, who also coaches the sport, holds all three 62kg national marks at 114kg, 142kg and 256kg, set at the Oceania champs in Brisbane last year.

His brother battled a left shoulder injury for about two years after Delhi. Lou put up his Glasgow qualifying effort in New Caledonia when finishing second at this year's Oceanias; Ianne, in an acknowledged tougher division, won bronze.

Lou, a kindergarten teacher at Natural Steps in Ellerslie Village, reckons he's close to being back to his best, and just in time. He knows he's got more in him, but weightlifting is a sport which relies on the athlete being primed just right for one specific day.

Competitors have three lifts in the snatch and clean and jerk. The key is timing entry into the competition just right to maximise the opportunity.

New Zealand is fielding its largest Games team, with 12 making the trip. It is also the first time the sport has fielded a full men's team. Several of the Games squad are training at the Millennium Institute this weekend.

The Guinares brothers, hoping to draw the best out of each other in Glasgow, are among a group flying to Finland to join others in the New Zealand squad at a pre-Games camp on July 9.

Family ties: New Zealand athletes at the Games

• Lou and Ianne Guinares (weightlifting, brothers)
• Zane and Jake Robertson (athletics, brothers)
• Oliver and Susannah Leydon Davis (badminton, brother and sister)
• Li Chunli and Karen Li (table tennis, sisters)
• Shannon and Amy McIlroy (bowls, husband and wife)