Robinsons excel on international weightlifting stage

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This article was published 01/10/2019 (2426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ian and Andrea Robinson of Brandon certainly lift a lot more than each other’s spirits.

The Brandon couple both captured medals at the World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Montreal in August, and will compete on Saturday as their gym, CrossFit Rocked, hosts the Manitoba Open weightlifting competition.

“I guess we don’t know any different,” Andrea said of their shared passion for the sport. “We do definitely appreciate the fact that it’s something we’re both into and spend a lot of time doing. We’re both very supportive of the other person, and kind of happy you understand the ups and downs of the training aspects of it. That’s quite neat, and it’s something not a lot of people have.

“It was neat that we both qualified (for worlds) and that it wasn’t one person or the other. It was really good that it turned out well for both of us on the platform and that we were happy with how we lifted, not even just the results with our own performance and our ability. We’re extra happy because we understand the struggle of what goes into those accomplishments so we can celebrate a bit more.”

Ian, 41, played school sports like volleyball and soccer, but gravitated into lifting weights around age 14. He never did any bodybuilding but enjoyed heading to the gym after school.

Andrea, 37, swam and high jumped in high school and also did some distance running. When she began hitting the gym more seriously, she did three bodybuilding shows.

They began Olympic weightlifting six-and-a-half years ago and competing in events three years ago. Andrea started a year earlier and has done nine or 10, and he’s competed in six.

They do two or three per year.

They also compete in CrossFit training four or five days a week, with specific weightlifting training two or three times per week. There is plenty of crossover between the two sports, which complement each other.

“I always wanted to try Olympic weightlifting as a kid,” Ian said. “There was just no opportunity here. When Zach (McMillan) opened the gym seven years ago, we were looking for a change from the typical bodybuilding-style weightlifting. We jumped in with this program here and Zach has taught us weightlifting. I was super excited about that.”

McMillan has known the pair since 2013, and has helped them refine their technique in the snatch and clean and jerk lifts. He had a good sense of where their training was at going into worlds.

“We knew they were capable of coming home with a medal but in the sport of weightlifting you only get three lifts, three attempts in the snatch and three attempts in the clean and jerk,” McMillan said. “It’s kind of always in the back of our heads — we don’t like to admit that — but there’s always the possibility that things aren’t going to go well and you’re not going to hit the lifts that you think you can hit. We were really excited just watching it. They went out and I know it was a tough day for them where the weights were not flying off like they do sometime.”

The snatch has a wider grip and the bar is essentially lifted in a single motion from the floor to above the head.

In the clean and jerk, the bar is lifted with the hands much closer together. The person lifts it, settles into a squat, rises with the bar sitting on their shoulders and then pushes it into the air.

In competition, each athlete is given three lifts in each discipline, with the combined total of the two best successful determining a winner.

The pair entered a judged qualifier for worlds in March in Winnipeg, and submitted their totals to a worldwide databank. Six weeks later, the top lifters in each age and weight category were awarded an invitation to worlds.

“It was exciting and a bit surreal I guess,” Ian said of receiving the news. “It’s a sport that we enjoy but we’re not serious. We have normal jobs and daily life. This is just something that we do for fun. It’s exciting, that’s for sure.”

It might be a hobby, but it’s one they’ve certainly embraced over the years. McMillan has been there along the entire ride, and while he noted both have the raw athletic potential and physical frames to succeed, he added they brought something more.

“They were quite good at it but a sport like that you also have to put in a lot of work,” McMillan said. “They both started weightlifting in their 30s so it’s not something they’ve been doing their whole lives. They’ve been showing up at the gym five, sometimes six days a week now for seven years, so when you do that math, they’ve been in this gym, CrossFit Rocks, a lot. It’s a clear reflection of their determination and hard work. It took a lot of years and a lot of training sessions just to qualify.”

Ian lifted first in Montreal. The competitors weigh in two hours before they lift, get ready, mentally prepare and take in the event around them.

Ian, who was competing in the 89-kg division of the men’s 40-44 age group, hit his first snatch of 110 kilograms (242 pounds), and about 12 minutes later, it was his turn again and he missed at 115 kg. He also failed at 115 on his third lift. It took about an hour for the entire division to finish, with Ian carrying forward that 110-kg total.

After a 10-minute break, they started the clean and snatch, and he hit 130 kg, missed at 135 and then lifted 135 in his final attempt, for a combined weight of 245 kg, 10 kg behind the winner, Glen Hutchinson of Calgary.

He knew exactly where he would finish before it was announced.

“You can’t control what anybody does but I’m a bit of a numbers guy,” Ian said. “Coaches don’t like athletes to look at the screen in the back and other lifters’ numbers, but I just like to see what the other numbers are because it’s all so new to us. There are times I don’t necessarily feel that I belong here, but at the end of the day we all got accepted and we’re just there to have fun.”

The whole session took less than three hours.

“I’m not downplaying this but it was silver for this year and next year could be completely different,” Ian said. “They move to Germany next year and it could be a completely different atmosphere but regardless, it was still great. I put in the work and still had to go and hit the lifts. It worked out. It was a lot of fun.”

Andrea competed a day later in the 64-kg division of the women’s 35-39 age group. She hit her first weight of 68 kg (149 pounds) in the snatch, made 73 and then missed at 76.

“I started my first lifts a bit lower and took a bigger jump,” Andrea said.

In the clean and jerk, she hit at 86, missed at 90 and finished up with a successful lift of 92.

“For the most part it was really good,” Andrea said. “I was quite happy with my lifts, especially my last clean and jerk, which was more than I’ve ever lifted on the platform before. I was happy to hit that one. I had missed my second so I had to hit that one in order to medal. I’m glad it worked out.”

Her total of 165 kg tied Canadian Lindsay McCardle, but Andrea placed third after a countback. McCardle was the first to achieve her total, so she took second with the pre-determined tie-breaker.

“It was really exciting because I didn’t see it coming,” Andrea said. “I was ranked lower coming into things — I was fifth — but it just depends on what you’re able to do on the day of. I didn’t really realize what was happening until I made my last lift and then we double-checked the numbers. I was very surprised and quite overwhelmed.”

Both said they were more nervous when the other was competing.

It will be a while until they step on a bigger stage again. They may take part in a national event next June for masters in Winnipeg, so that’s a potential goal.

Andrea said the chase for new personal bests is omnipresent, but the love of the sport is the glue. So are the people they train with every day, Ian said.

“The big thing is the community of this gym,” Ian said. “We have a lot of good friends who all lift together and fantastic coaches. They inspire us to come back and enjoy the sport.”

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