Brandon bodybuilder back on track

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2011 (5521 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When a broken back forced Johnny Hewitt out of a 2009 competition, bodybuilding seemed far off for the former minor-pro hockey player.

"I didn’t want to make a target," said Hewitt, a Brandonite who turns 34 later this month.

"I remember being in the hospital, asking (the doctor), ‘When can I bodybuild again?’ He said, ‘John, my goal is to have you walk and use your bladder, and after that, you’re lucky.’

"I deal with pain every day. I could be on long-term disability for the rest of my life … but I just kind of deal with it. I live one day at a time, and I just started to do the things I enjoy to do, despite how I feel. Mind over matter, so to speak."

That determination pushed Hewitt to victory in the men’s tall category at the Manitoba Amateur Body-building Association novice championships last month in Winnipeg.

"I’ve only been active, back in the gym, for probably a year’s time," said Hewitt, who turned to bodybuilding after retiring from Quebec’s semi-pro hockey league about four years ago.

"It’s nice for a change. This sport, all the work I do, I reap the benefit. I don’t feel used, for the first time in my life. I spent a huge portion of my life being judged by others. Now I’m an open book and actually get on stage to get judged. (That’s) the irony of it."

As his penalty minutes would attest, Hewitt was a fighter during a hockey career that included stops in the minor-pro United and Central leagues.

"I don’t have to fight anymore," he said. "I’m not abusing myself."

Hewitt, a Portage la Prairie native, stepped onto the bodybuilding stage last month at 196 pounds.

He considered his mere presence in the competition an accomplishment, especially after coming back from a major injury.

"They say one per cent of people actually just make it to (compete) on stage," he said. "Only so many place."

Hewitt was among 166 competitors in the novice provincial championship for men’s bodybuilding and three different women’s categories — fitness, figure and bikini.

Some of the Brandon athletes, including Hewitt, plan to compete in the elite provincials in June at Winnipeg, with the hopes of qualifying for the national championships.

Hewitt’s girlfriend, Tanis Basaraba, is also active in bodybuilding circles.

"I met her on this journey and that alone is enough for me," he said.

"I’m very lucky."

STAGE MIGHT: Other Brandon medallists in the novice men’s provincials were Reuben Doerksen (gold) in welterweight, Chris Turcotte (silver) in light middleweight and Peter McGorman (silver) in lightweight.

In the women’s figure provincials, Brandonite Stacy Goldsworthy was the gold-medallist in the figure medium category.

 

» jmacneil@brandonsun.com