A lift in the right direction
Chanté Kitchen found her niche in a sport that some might view as, not so warm and welcoming.
The 21-year-old competed in the Girls Only Powerlifting competition that was presented by the Rhino Powerlifting Club at the Fit Pit gym in Pretoria.
She took third place in her weight class of 67,5 and under, with her best qualifying scores of 115 for her squat, 60 kilograms for her bench, and 137,5 kilograms for dead lift.
Out of nine total lifts on the day, she successfully completed eight. Her dead-lift lift of 137,5 kilograms left her competitors in the lurch.
“That was my heaviest weight ever. It was my first competition since getting involved in the sport. I am working towards next year where I will hopefully qualify for the national championships.”
Competitors have three tries on each weight. Her first lift in the squat was 100 kilograms, her second 110 and the third 115 kilograms. She just missed her last lift in the bench, which she also regards as the most difficult of the three categories. “I couldn’t get the last lift of 65 kilograms. I started with 120 kilograms in the dead lift, my second was 130 and I was very proud to get my last lift of 137,5.”
Her fiancé, Raymond Waters, was an excellent athlete too. He won the nationals in 2013 and held a dead-lift record of 280 kilograms. Waters injured his back in 2014 and only recently started training again. “We share the same passion for the sport and we encourage each other.”
“Train like a beast. Act like a woman,” is her motto.
