Congratulations to Lower Sixth student Hannah Karpal who has had further success in competitive powerlifting and was recently crowned British Junior Champion in the U18 under 57kg category. During the competition, she not only hit her goal weights in each event but achieved three PBs with a 102.5kg squat, 55kg bench press and 142.5kg deadlift!
Hannah reports back, “Before going into a competition, I always have a plan for the day, consisting of all attempts I would be able to achieve on a really good day and on a less good day. Both plans are flexible depending on how warm-ups are feeling and how fast each attempt moves. So, going into the competition I had some numbers in my head I was hoping to achieve that would hopefully enable me to come first and have the opportunity to go to international competitions this year.
“Training has been going well – I usually go for some heavy singles about 3 or 4 weeks out from the competition and I achieved PBs in these sessions. I mainly train at home but sometimes go to the Strength & Conditioning Suite at school so that I’m not always training by myself and go early to make time for schoolwork and other commitments in the evenings.
“On the day of the British Junior Championships, my squat warm-ups went well which led to a tough push for a 102.5kg squat PB. After squats, I felt extremely tired so wasn’t sure about how the rest of the day was going to go. As a result, I took my second bench attempt down, but it moved unexpectedly quick meaning I could return to the plan of benching 55kg for my third, which was also a PB. First and second deadlift attempts moved well leading to my final lift of 142.5kg. Overall, the day was very enjoyable – not only the lifting, but also being able to meet and talk to lots of amazing people there.
“I’m hoping to represent GB again this year. The next competition would be Worlds taking place in Romania at the end of August and Euros later on in 2023. Before this I will attend squad training with the other athletes representing GB.”
Mr Richmond, Head of Strength and Conditioning, says, “‘Huge congratulations to Hannah for her most recent success at the British Champs! She deserves full credit for the commitment, hard work and discipline that goes hand in hand with the sport of powerlifting. Hannah is now chasing the goal of deadlifting three times her bodyweight and may well be the first student to reach this in my time as Head of Strength and Conditioning. Since joining us at Trinity she has been an inspiration to many within the community. On behalf of the staff at Trinity, I wish her every success for the future.”
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