Without going all cringe and intense on it…this lift has to be the highlight of my weightlifting career to date.
The goal to be the first woman in Ireland to officially clean and jerk 100kg has been top of my list for a few years now. The last couple of months have been a race between myself and a few others in the country for the title…most notably, between myself and my training partner and one of my besties, Aoife MacNeill. We both knew we were capable but just didn’t know who would hit it first on the platform, nothing like some healthy competition 
(She’s also incredibly sound and a big ride as you can see –>)
100kg fail, Euros 2016
I missed 100kg at the European Champs in Norway in April and then at the International Grand Prix in Tenerife in June I cleaned 100kg but missed the jerk. So that was mildly irritating :/ …but I knew it’d come soon and no better place to do it than at the Irish Championships. #nopressure
The Weightlifting Ireland National Championships took place last Saturday 9th July. I snatched 63kg, missed 66kg and then hit 66kg with which I was sort of happyish…kind of…not really…but sure look, the snatch is still my nemesis (head wreck), but I got that over with and focused on the clean and jerk. I opened with 93kg, then got 97kg which was a new personal best (PB) and new National Record…but my goal was the hundy…and it felt easy! So I finished with a 166kg total (a best total to date) and Irish Champion in the 69kg weight category, with a bonus of the Irish Record in the Clean and Jerk. Check out the video above if you’re interested, and as per usual, I apologise for wearing a onesie, but it’s obligatory and also, apologies for my demon face, but it comes out when I’m in “the zone”. (Also, for those who work in pounds; 100kg is 15 stone and 10 pounds or 220 pounds altogether).
I want to thank everyone who was there on the day – the support in the room was unbelievable and it really helped me, especially on my final lift. The support and congrats since then has been overwhelming and I appreciate every word and message from you all, it genuinely does not go unnoticed.
The encouragement inspires me to strive for bigger and better things. Huge thanks to my fellow competitors, my Prodigy Barbell club members and coach, Sami Dowling, they knew how important this lift was to me. Massive love to all of my family and friends (#blessed), my fellow coaches from CrossFit 353 and our members, all of my clients, and so much gratitude goes to my physical therapist, Paul Opperman (my godfather/sensei/buddha), of Dublin Sports Clinic and to my sound sponsors Optimum Nutrition, Sara Da Silva and The Punnet Health Store who help me with my sporting career which is important as we receive no funding (and on that note, if anyone wants to sponsor Weightlifting Ireland please contact me immediately and I’ll get you in touch with the board. We need help. There is a serious lack of money in the “smaller” sports in Ireland).
To finish my emotional ramble, the satisfaction and relief when you hit a major goal in life is like no other feeling in the world. We are all capable of greatness and I’d encourage everyone to set themselves individual goals and chase them, however trivial they may seem. I hope that now I’ve hit the 100 milestone, it’ll open the gates for many girls to follow and will pave the way for even more females to partake in weightlifting and progress up through the ranks and increase the competition and awareness of our sport for the better.
The Prodigy Crew …post competition banter #ladsladslads
Keep being sound, guys
Much love xx
~In Squats We Trust~
#generalsoundness
