Helen Carrington recently returned from a visit to Sun City, in South Africa, and a new item included in her luggage was a coveted gold medal as reward for her superb performance in the recently-held Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships.
 
Helen and her husband John also included a deserved holiday after the event as they took the chance to explore other parts of the country but the main focus was the ten days of competition which began for Helen with her acclimatisation work before the day of her main event, which was in the Bench Press discipline of her sport.
 

Winning gold – an amazing feeling!

 
She was a member of the team of over 40, the largest-ever Welsh squad to enter the competition and after good pre-competition practice sessions in the M1 category for females aged 40-49, weighing up to 84kgs, that at the end of the competition she had achieved a personal best of 82.5 kgs (a new Welsh competition record) - her name was flashed up on the electronic scoreboard in first place and the coveted gold medal was hers!
 
“I can’t describe how I felt but when I stood on the podium and the Welsh Flag was hauled up to the top, I sang the National Anthem with gusto, like I had done previously when I was in a Llanelli RFC supporters’ choir which sang at The Principality Stadium - and I must admit there were a few tears in my eyes.
 
“I had my leg pulled because of my age but there is no limit to age because there was one other team member who was 70+!”
 

Soon back in action – helping other Welsh competitors

 
Within an hour of having her medal, however, Helen was back in the arena helping to advise other competitors in her role as a British Powerlifting Level Two coach who was assistant coach to the Welsh team on this occasion.
 
She had gained that qualification a while ago after attending an on-line course over a period of weeks and then attended the assessment sessions in Swindon, so she now enjoys that new development in her powerlifting career.
 
“It has helped me become even more involved at the wonderful SAW Gym in Haverfordwest, where I train up to four nights a week and try to help others – I try and encourage as many others as possible to get involved and get them to enjoy taking part in physical activity, especially lifting free weights.
 

Always ready to sing the praises of others

 
“I hope like me they can benefit because in 2022 I made the decision to stop being a life-time couch potato and plucked up courage to go to SAW, where I was immediately made welcome by the likes of Simon Roach and Chloe Hood and I haven’t looked back since.
 
“During my involvement I have been very lucky to have Chloe giving me every encouragement but she is a natural weight-lifter, rather than a powerlifter so although I have still worked with her every time I have visited the gym until recently, I now have a new coach in Lawrence Farncombe, who I work with remotely as he’s based in England. I video all my sessions and send them to him so that we can do a zoom meeting to analyse them every week.
 

Loved powerlifting from the start

 
“At first my main thought was losing weight and gaining fitness but once I plumped for Powerlifting I decided on competing after The Wales’ team had returned from the Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand - and after watching videos of them I decided there and then,
“I want to be there in South Africa in two years’ time.
 
“I really enjoyed the hard work from the start as I learned the differing techniques of the squat, bench press and dead lift - and it is amazing how quickly I got into the swing of things, and even had the confidence to take part in competitions, where I was amazed how supportive every competitor was of their rivals.
 
“I was soon competing for a place in the Welsh squad and after I had been chosen, which was a great thrill in itself, I attended the training sessions at the National Sports Centre in Cardiff, which were naturally increased in frequency before we went off to South Africa.



 

Some great highlights in 2024

 
“Whilst there I also competed in the ‘Full Power’ component of the competition, which means competing in all three disciplines, where the winner of course has the highest total combined weight.
 
“I was delighted that I broke the Welsh records for the squat (130kgs) and Bench Press (85kgs) but had a bit of an off-day on the Deadlift and just missed out on the Bench bronze medal because although I tied in terms of weight my opponent was marginally lighter than me so she took the medal!”
 
Of course, winning her gold medal was an absolute highlight, Helen would also nominate the fact that this year has seen her lift for Great Britain in the European Championships in the bench press category, where again she only just missed out on a medal as she came a close fourth.
 

A very important message for other women of her age!

 
But perhaps even more important for Helen is the fact that she so pleased that her sporting interest is helping her deal with the Menopause and highly recommends to others that they try the same way to deal with it, no matter what the activity is, but offering powerlifting as an excellent help because it is physical, good fun and has wonderful camaraderie with other sufferers.
 
“I know it can’t completely get rid of the hot flushes and other symptoms, but as I have just told Mr Carne, women are facing something that the men would find intolerable, and it not only helps me cope but I have lost over 20kgs in weight and that is another factor that has been so beneficial.
 
“I also know of one Scottish lady who competes after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and her surgeon had recommended that she get involved in such a sport as ours – which she has, and she says it has been a great help!
 
“All anyone has to do is log on to the SAW website or call up to the gym at the new school any evening and I can categorically assure you of a warm welcome and some great company - and, who knows, one day like me, you could feel so much better about yourself and have a gold medal taking pride of place at home!”
 
STOP PRESS:
 
Since this article has been in the process of completion and checking, Helen has also received wonderful local acclaim at the Sport Pembrokeshire Awards for 2024, where she felt honoured to be nominated in a big class and short-listed in the final three nominees.
 
But she readily admits that when her name was announced as the category winner and she received the beautifully-engraved cut-glass trophy – it really rounded off a wonderful 2024 for her!
 
And we at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk could only say that it was a pleasure to be in attendance and witness her joy when the result was announced!