Strength Academy Wales’s (SAW) premier facility in Haverfordwest as part of Pembrokeshire Sports Village was the location of the two-day event over the first weekend of December, with numerous lifters gunning for gold for the title of Welsh Champion in the various categories.

Saturday saw the Welsh Senior Championships take place. There was a total of 60 entries for this year’s Championships, which was a tremendous 73% increase to last year’s total entries.

In the first session of the Senior Championships, Nikole Roberts was off to a flying start, managing a total of 158kg to take top spot in the W55 Class. Catrin Haf Jones managed a total of 188kg to take gold in the W59 Class, seeing off a notable performance by U20 athlete Charlotte Whalley who toppled the Welsh Records in her age category by lifting a 179kg total, combined from a 81kg snatch and 98kg clean and jerk. Athlete Representative Catrin Jones managed to win the W64 Class.

Next up was the turn of the first of the men’s groups of the day to take centre stage, with the M55, M61, M73, and M81 classes forming session two. The first recognition of this group comes in the way of development squad athlete Thomas Duggan, who at just 15 years of age put in a magnificent display on the national stage as the sole lifter in the M55 weight category to record a 171kg total score, following a 79kg snatch and 92kg clean and jerk. This performance represented a new Welsh Lifting Record for all three of snatch, clean and jerk, and total scores across all junior age groups from Under 15’s upwards in the M55 category, as well as also in the men’s seniors. A fantastic achievement for Thomas, in which we are sure has a bright future ahead in the sport. Also in this session, stand out performances consisted of; Cian McGee taking gold with a matching 171kg total to that of Thomas, but this display being in the M61 Class, Michael Farmer achieving the best Sinclair score of the day which shown in his outstanding performance with a 285kg total in the M73 class, and finally Daniel Davies taking top spot in a highly competitive M81 Class with a 250kg total.

The day progressed with the audience witnessing some fantastic efforts in the W71 Class, as a total of 11 athletes were vying for top spot on the podium. This position ended up falling to Chloe Hood as she snatched 82kg and jerked 106kg, with Jessica Wheeler and Chase Clark falling just behind of the podium places with totals of 175kg and 165kg respectively. This also coupled with Isla Travers reaching Welsh Record standards in this session through her sublime effort of 90kg clean and jerk alongside a total score of 160kg which was a fantastic moment appreciated by all the audience in attendance.

The M89 Class was the only category in the fourth session of the day and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Amongst fierce competition from all seven athletes competing with all podium places going right down to the wire, Edward Gibson earnt top spot courtesy of a brilliant performance in which he managed a huge total of 260kg. The silver and bronze medals were taken by Oliver Godwin, for a total of 257kg, and Timothy Williams, for a total of 250kg, respectively. Joshua Smith, Jamie Brine, and Louis Caruana came tightly matched below the podium places in that category. The competitive spirit of this session was electric and an enjoyment to spectate.

The penultimate session of the day saw four different gold medallists, with Laura Hughes, Sabrina Butler, Niamh Collins, and Leah Clarke all standing the tallest on the podium. Laura shone through in the W76 Class, lifting a 112kg in her clean and jerk on her way to a 197kg total, which she should be very proud of. Sabrina led the way in a three-way battle in the W86 Class with a 185kg total, with Charlie Hunt and Honey Seaton coming in just behind to reach silver and bronze. Niamh’s 183kg total in the W87 Class was good enough to beat Ella Beard, with matters in the W87+ Class coming down to Leah’s outstanding performance of a 200kg plus total score being reached (207kg), although silver medallist in this category Grace Morris got the crowd off their feet through improving on her Welsh Record status in the Women’s U17 and U20 age groups by lifting 75kg snatch and a 173kg total. 

Alex Moseley kicked things off tremendously in the final session of the day by taking the gold in the M96 Class with a 293kg total, with Morgan Phillips and Carwyn Jones battling it out closely for the other spots on the podium. Following Carwyn’s two failed attempts in his clean and jerk’s, Morgan pounced upon this remarkably by jumping from 105kg jerk in his first attempt to completing a 144kg jerk in his third and final attempt which saw him secure the sliver medal by a single kg total over Carwyn, with a 249kg total over 248kg. The M102 Class delivered with Rhodri West standing tall on the podium in first place through a fantastic title-winning total of 291kg, the biggest of the Welsh Senior Championships for this year. The final medal handed out of the day belonged to Kristian Baller, who as the sole lifter in the M109 Class, reached a total of 205kg to cap off what was an incredible day of competition.

Moving on to Sunday, with the main event of the day being the Welsh Para-Powerlifting Championships, in which we saw three highly talented competitors. Evelyn Thomas, who is a member of the development squad, successfully benched 67kg, but unfortunately couldn’t go on to beat what we she achieved in last year’s championships. Sara Jones in the W55 Class made all three of her attempts to claim her gold medal, benching 35kg, 37kg, then 40kg, similarly to her fellow club compatriot at Coleg Sir Gar, Ashleigh Hallyer, who in the M81 Class saw him receive a gold medal for successful benches of 50kg, 54kg, and 58kg. A great display by all three, and we hope this can inspire more para-athletes to take up the sport and see even more competing on the Welsh Para-Powerlifting Championships stage.

The rest of the Sunday comprised of the Welsh Winter Open, in which an impressive total of 64 entries were made for this event. There were several high standard performances throughout the whole day, most notably by Under 15 athlete Bethan Harry in the W55 Class who delivered a new Welsh Lifting Record with a 53kg snatch. However, Bethan unfortunately just fell short of going home with a gold medal in her weight class as Yasmin Almahfoudh lifted impressively to reach a 120kg total score to beat Bethan’s 116kg total. Louis Weston lifted an event high for the day for a total of 276kg in the M109+ Class, which left all the audience in attendance visibly impressed. A fantastically participated Winter Open capped off what has been another awesome year of Weightlifting Wales events, and we can’t wait for all of what is to come next year.

Congratulations to all competitors who made it a brilliant watch over the weekend, and well done to our Welsh champions for 2024.

Whilst we celebrate the highs of these competitions, it is important to acknowledge that for some, these days can be very challenging.

We would like to take the opportunity to address those lifters that were unable to put together a total on the day they were hoping for. More often than not, we leave no stone unturned in our build-up to a competition, controlling the controllables to ensure every success. We often forget that we are not machines, and these things can be uncontrollable, even with the best warm-up.

We know it hurts. We hope you know that your performance is not a reflection of you, and your result does not negate the countless brilliant performances you have all had throughout your lifting career thus far, nor does it stop the countless brilliant performances that are coming your way in 2025, and thereafter. This is valuable experience.

Weightlifting Wales would like to thank Strength Academy Wales for being amazing hosts, as well as also all of our volunteer technical officials; Stephen Donovan, Caroline Charles, Farzad Alahyari, Russell Willey, Rhys Taplin, Claire Simmons, and Elinor Edwards.

Furthermore, Weightlifting Wales would also like to personally thank Harry Haggard, Hrithik Reddy, Nyarai Hector, Jamie/Thomas Duggan, Max Davies, Osian Brown, Llyr Gravell, Lindsey Atkinson, Matthew De Filippo, and Lauren Holt for their generosity in loading sessions over the weekend and ensuring each session ran to time.

Without volunteers our competitions are not possible, your kindness does not go unnoticed.

We wish you all a wonderful festive season and hope you look forward to achieving even more in 2025.