The Welsh Senior Championships 2025 took place on Saturday 22nd November at the excellent Canolfan Brailsford Sports Centre facility in Bangor. As the pinnacle competition for Weightlifting Wales with stringent qualifying totals needed to be met in order to enter in to the competition, the event brought together the nation’s top lifters to compete for the national titles up for grabs across the categories. Lifters from clubs across the nation delivered poised, technical performances and gutsy third‑attempt heroics.

The competition featured six sessions, spanning women’s and men’s categories from 48kg to 110+kg, plus para powerlifting. The atmosphere across the day was electric, with huge amounts of vocal support and encouragement for lifters of all categories, as we look to pride ourselves on creating a real encouraging, community spirit at our events.

Women’s 48kg–63kg (Group 1)

• W48 — Esther Gimblett (Llanelli Weightlifting Academy): Controlled snatches up to 56kg and a decisive 70kg clean & jerk sealed the gold medal in this class, with an impressive post 200 sinclair score. Esther's rhythm under the bar and stable receiving positions stood out to open the championships and be the recipient of the first gold medal handed out.
• W58 — Catrin Haf Jones (Bangor University): A strong 82kg snatch set the tone for Catrin, however two consecutive failed attempts at the 84kg and 85kg put a hold on proceedings in her site for the title. Moving over to the clean & jerk saw Catrin with a confident turnover of successfully lifting 103kg and then a 108kg to clinch the W58kg title in front of a thrilled home crowd in familiar surroundings of her affiliated club, with a 190kg total. This was with Catrin Jones (176kg total) and Tegan Crowle (167kg total) falling closely behind on the podium places in this category.
• W63 — Bethan Watkins (Guardian 6 Weightlifting): Snatching 83kg and nailing 104kg in the clean & jerk, Bethan managed the pressure brilliantly to take home the title amongst her fellow five competitors in the W63 on the day. Elsewhere in this category, Charlotte Whalley came off the back of competing in the Commonwealth Championships in India with a 181kg total (83/98) to earn 2nd place, with 3rd place going to Janine Dovey with a sub 200 sinclair score following a 158kg total (71/87).

Men’s 60kg–79kg (Group 2)

• M60 — Noah Ellson (HAWFC): An efficient 5 from 6 successful lifts saw Noah through to an 84kg snatch and a 113kg clean & jerk - 197kg total. With Noah using hist last clean & jerk attempt to get ahead of Tom Duggan for top spot, it was a tense moment for the crowd and his coach, Gareth Evans, alike as Noah did tremendously well to successfully make the lift. Development squad lifter, Tom Duggan ended up falling short with a silver medal with a 196kg total (89/107).
• M65 — Llewellyn Waits (Unattached): A brilliant year for Llewellyn topped off with a 96/120 set of results and a gold medal in the Welsh Seniors. After a failed 100kg snatch attempt, Llewellyn adjusted his speed off the floor and finished with authority to go successful with a 120kg clean & jerk to finish off with a 216kg total.
• M71 — Michael Farmer (Unattached): After coming into the event with a pre-existing back injury, Mikey did brilliantly to take to the platform and deliver a 240kg total - which also resulted in being the best lifter of the group by Sinclair score.
• M79 — Cian Green (Bangor University): Competing against his brother Jac, a great contest unfolded. Cian went 5 from 6 in successful lifts as he surpassed his brother to step up to 1st place on the podium with a 243kg total (110/133/). Jac earned a very well respectable 225kg total (95/130), followed by Lewis Hodgson with a 90/120 - 210kg total in third place.

Women’s 69kg (Group 3)

Just the one category in this session, which saw a compelling battle foregone, with all five athletes matching each other's ability. It became competitive by both lifters and coaches alike as everyone sought to gain podium positions at the end of lifting. Just 10kg separated the totals from 5th to 1st place. 

• Jo McEwan (Unattached): Composed 81kg snatch and a 102kg clean & jerk following three of the four athletes before her failing to be successful in their last clean & jerk attempt resulted in Jo managing to take the gold medal in the W69kg class.
• Megan Dixon (SSC Weightlifting): A silver medal for Megan after a 101kg clean & jerk following three consecutive no lifts between the last couple of snatches and initial clean & jerk attempt.
• Isla Travers (Resilience Weightlifting): Bronze medal earned for Isla after narrowly edging out of Jess Wheeler and Chase Clark by just the single 1kg, as she came away with a 77/97 - 174kg total.

Para powerlifting (Group 4)

Evelyn Thomas (Strength Academy Wales - SAW): Following a really successful year both domestically and internationally, Evelyn went about the Welsh Senior Championships with tremendous professionalism. Evelyn went successful with a 70kg and 73kg, and then agonisingly came foul of reaching a 76kg personal best due to an unfortunate technicality of when she lifted the bar. We know Evelyn will be eager to succeed her existing personal best when 2026 comes around.

Men’s 88kg–110+kg (Group 5)

• M88 — Oliver Ebenezer (Unattached): Following being awarded 'best male lifter' at the last Weightlifting Wales competition weekend in September, Oliver continued his good form by going 3 from 3 in his snatches and finishing with results of of 120kg snatch and a confident 149kg clean & jerk. A 269kg total was enough for top spot and the title, ahead of Edward Gibson and Daniel Davies on the podium with a 259kg total (111/148) and 241kg total (105/136) respectively.
• M94 — Theo Morris (Unattached): In a fiercely contested M94 class where all four lifters reached a 275 Sinclair score or above, it was Theo Morris who earned the gold medal with a 125kg snatch and 144kg clean & jerk (269kg total). Notably, Luke Fletcher followed closely behind with silver in a 116/144 (260kg total), with Josiah Kwok managing to save his day from an initial two failed lifts in the snatch to earn a bronze medal following a 105/138 (243kg total).
• M110 — James Wales (Royal Navy Weightlifting): The highlight of the day was the performance of James Wales who ended up coming out on top as 'best male lifter' for this year's Welsh Senior Championships with a Sinclair score of 354.81. This was following a 136kg snatch and 184kg clean & jerk (320kg total)
• M110+ — Louis Weston (Unattached): Louis took the M110+ title with a strong 125kg snatch, followed by a 160kg clean & jerk, to round up the final medal handed out to male lifters at this year's Senior Championships.

Women’s 77kg–86+kg (Group 6)

• W77 — Laura Hughes (Unattached): Coming off the back of recently competing in the World Championships over in Forde, Norway, Laura had continued with her progression in Bangor as she went 90/117, with a 207kg total for the day which came out on top just ahead of Sabrina Butler in silver with a 84/107 (191kg total).
• W86 — Nicola Stiddard (Unattached): 94kg snatch and 112kg clean & jerk was enough for a gold medal as Nicola showed her class with the second best Sinclair score (239.71) of this last session. Niamh Collins achieved a silver medal with a 81/100 (181kg total).
• W86+ — Grace Morris (Strength Academy Wales - SAW): The final medal of the competition was awarded to Grace Morris with a gold medal following a 77kg snatch and 100kg clean & jerk, showing impressive composure as an under 20 athlete amongst the Senior Championships. 

Acknowledgements and Looking Ahead

The 2025 Welsh Seniors highlighted the depth of talent across Wales, from emerging juniors to seasoned seniors. Bangor proved a fitting stage, with lifters showing resilience, technical mastery, and national pride. It was a day also defined by a community of volunteers and supporters who made the platform feel electric and professionally officiated from first lift to the last.

Canolfan Brailsford Sports Centre in Bangor continues to always be a superb host venue. The platform setup, warm‑up area flow, and spectator experience were excellent throughout the day and we are hugely grateful to their team for all their support.

The Welsh Senior Championships 2025 showed a sport in motion: more youth athletes stepping confidently onto senior platforms, stronger technical standards in both lifts, and para powerlifting celebrated within the same stage. With this momentum, Weightlifting Wales hopes to take the progress made this year into the big international competitions to come ahead. 

Thank you to the National Lottery

On behalf of Weightlifting Wales, we extend our deepest gratitude to the National Lottery for the vital support and funding that help makes such events like the Welsh Senior Championships 2025 possible. Your support underpins every element of the event, from the competition equipment to volunteer coordination, helping everything to run smoothly. 

So, thank you to all National Lottery players and the Welsh Government. Your funding has helped create a day where athletes could perform at their best, volunteers could deliver with confidence, and the whole Welsh weightlifting community could celebrate together. We look forward to continuing this partnership and delivering even greater opportunities for lifters across Wales.