A lakecity powerlifter muscled his way to a first-place finish at the NPC and GPC Nationals in Prince George during the weekend.
Tyson Delay, 22, has been training in the sport for roughly a year under the tutelage of national record holder Blair Fisher, also of Williams Lake.
Delay smashed out a 237-pound benchpress, a 352-pound squat and a 451-pound deadlift for the combined overall title in the junior 82-kilogram, raw division (meaning no knee wraps or elbow wraps). It was just his second powerlifting meet since he began his training.
“I think it was the deadlift that saved me,” Delay said, noting there were 160 competitors from across Canada competing in multiple weight classes and categories.
“This is all part of the dream. I really want to get this town amped up about this. I think we have so much potential as a community for weightlifting whether it’s Olympic-style, powerlifting, strongman or even crossfit.”
Delay said his foray into the world of powerlifting started with his parents.
“They started powerlifting just to help stay young,” he said. “I used to plumb houses and was doing a job for a fella and the woman at the house said her husband was a national record holder in powerlifting and that turned out to be Blair.”
He added his success would not be possible without Fisher’s guidance.
“He’s pushed me above and beyond what I ever imagined I could do,” Delay said. “His training has been amazing because previously I just watched YouTube videos to learn how to do things.”
He’s now doing serious powerlifting training three times a week, alongside Fisher and another Williams Lake resident, Bobbie-Jo Macnair.
“I love the people in the sport,” he said. “Even the guys in your own weight class are yelling at you, cheering you on,” he said. “They’re incredibly uplifting and positive people. There’s nobody there with their nose turned up. Everybody’s telling you you can do what you couldn’t possibly imagine.
“And I just enjoy the raw, feral feeling of lifting weights. It lets something deep down inside come out. That’s probably my favourite parts of the sport.”
Delay is now training for another powerlifting competition in November and plans to attend the Kamloops Strongest Man competition in June.
He said he wants to give a special shout out to his wife, Brynn Delay, for attending the meet in Prince George with him.
“I was extremely nervous and not feeling too confident and she really got me fired up,” he said.
“She was there cheering me on, always there with food and water and ready to encourage me. It was one of the coolest displays of encouragement and affection I’ve seen. It was just really neat.”