Well now the 2018 Commonwealth Games are over it is time to decompress what has happened over the last 12 months. The number of athletes I worked with in their campaign to make/partake in trial, and those who qualified for the Commonwealth Games - I am so proud of all their efforts. When you see their hard work day in and day out, you cannot doubt that these athletes have done everything in their power to be the best that they possibly can be. Unfortunately for some of my amazing athletes their best didn't come across on the day that they needed it too. However I have no doubt that their capacity in the next 4 years will shine through.
My First Athlete that competed over the 10 days at the Commonwealth Games was Alyce Stephenson who competed in the 48kg Category for Olympic Weightlifting.
She approached me over 16 months ago with the concept that if things go to plan that she should hopefully qualify at least for the Commonwealth Games Trials. She completed a DEXA body composition scan to ensure she could make the weight category. From this result I knew it would be hard work, but it could be done. We had three major cut attempts for competitions in the lead up to this competition. Some cuts went easier than others.
Cutting weight is a fine art and each athlete is different. The things that tend to change are their sweat rate per hour, bowel habits, how much water weight they can cut from carbs and salt reduction. This I personally love - understanding each person and knowing how their body responds which ensures that they will be able to make weight.
Fortunately for us it all payed off and Alyce was able to represent Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast! Alyce lifted 61kg in the Snatch and 83kg in the Clean and Jerk finishing 7th overall in the Commonwealth.
Photo credit: Marty Fields