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The 1st Annual NAPF North American Regional Bench Press Championships was held on Thursday, October 19, 2006, in San Jose, Costa Rica, Central America. The championship was held at one of Costa Rica's National Training Centers.
Costa Rica -- Spanish for "Rich Coast" -- is an agricultural country, with some of the finest fruits and vegetables in the world. Costa Rica has achieved a relatively high standard of living through the emerging software and electronic industries. Tourism and real estate is a booming industry as well and the county has one of the lowest crime rates of all the nation-states in the Americas. American restaurants and hotels and western style living can be found all over the city of San Jose. The nightlife is lively and second to none! Many American citizens vacation and live there year round. Overall, the city of San Jose was a perfect spot for us to host our first ever NAPF Bench Press Championships. The contest was attended by 30 athletes from 5 countries - Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the United States of America. Despite the short notice in planning the inaugural championship, we were quite pleased with the turnout of lifters. Colombia and Peru were scheduled to attend but due to funding issues, were not able to arrive in time for the contest. Key and important, I must point out that even despite the lack of resources and political obstacles encountered by the committee assembled and in charge of organizing this event; the competition was very well coordinated by Dr. Hugo Velásquez, President of the Costa Rica Powerlifting Federation and Mr. Julio Nunez, who is the coordinator for their National Judo Committee. My compliments and congratulations to Dr. Velásquez and Mr. Nunez! The three [3] USA lifters that decided to come on this journey - Jim Bardsley III, James Bardsley and Dr. Chris Calvano all performed very well -- My congratulation and sincere thanks for supporting this venture. Dr. Chris Calvano set the NAPF Regional Record in the single-lift Bench Press with 227.5/501lbs in the bench press, just weighing over the class limit at 110.5kg. Chris made a tough opener only to come back and easily make his second with 501. The night before the contest, Jack Marcus, Chris and I had a marvelous authentic Italian dinner at the restaurant next door to the San Jose Tennis Club & Convention Center, where we were housed for the championship. This enabled Chris to move to the next class and take Gold [!] Jim Bardsley and his father James made the trip and lifted very well. Jim knocked off a nice 142.5kg/313lbs after miss grooving it on his second attempt. Jim took 5th in the Open and Gold in the Junior Category. Jim's father, James, succeeded with all three of his attempts with 150 - 157.5 and finally a nicely pressed 165kg/363lbs, to achieve a silver medal in the Open and Gold in the Masters Category. Overall, a great day for the Bardsley family -- congratulation! The hotel rooms at the San Jose Tennis Club & Convention Center were spacious and cozy, and came with a delicious breakfast in the morning. The staff at the Tennis Club was very helpful and proved invaluable in assisting us in navigating through the city and accomplishing some errands prior to the start of the championship. I would like to begin on a VERY positive note, there were no bombs in this championship, and a very high percentage of the attempts were made by the lifters - 71% [!]. This should serve as notice to those who feel the bench press shirt is the cause for the high rate of bombs. It is clearly not. Ms. Manguena De Caballeros from Guatemala was the best overall female lifter and Ronald Urias from El Salvador was the best overall male lifter. Guatemala took the women's team title and the Costa Rica not only hosting, but competing in their first ever international championship, took the men's team title. The USA Powerlifitng was fourth, due to only having three [3] lifters. Anthems were played during the award ceremonies. Three doping tests were performed [10% of the athletes]. All three [3] samples were sent to the UCLA Laboratory in Los Angeles, California [USA]. The farewell banquet was very well planned and organized by Mrs. Alice Velasquez, and was a very nice time. Special thanks to Jack Marcus for serving as technical secretary - Great job! On Friday, the day after the championship Jack Marcus, Chris Calvano, Barry Antoniow from Canada and I were invited to take a sightseeing tour with Dr. Velasquez. Our first visit on the tour included the view of the Orosi Valley, where some of the world's best coffee is harvested. The Valley is truly blessed with the most natural beauty that you will ever see on the planet. The landscape is covered and blanketed with coffee trees, as well as streams, waterfalls and lakes. The mountains have vast peaks with slumbering volcanoes. Overall, from standing atop the summit from one these rolling hills decorating the landscape, it is peace and tranquility that rules the day. You have to see it to believe it. Our second stop was the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles [Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels] - the most honored church in the country, dedicated to La Negrita, the patron saint of Costa Rica. Each year hundreds of thousands of people, from all over Central America pay tribute to the La Negrita, by walking to the town of Cartago. Theologians and the people of Costa Rica say there are miraculous healing powers in the streaming waters that flow into the basin at the base of the church, and many pilgrims, each year travel to this shrine seeking cures and relief from their illnesses, disease, and poor health. The tour given to us by Dr. Velasquez was very enjoyable and included lunch and dinner at two traditional Costa Rican restaurants. One of the restaurants sat atop of a mountain overlooking the city, with a view that was simply breathtaking. On a final note, I would like thank Barry Antoniow of the Canadian Powerlifting Union [CPU] for delivering a free training seminar to the Costa Rica lifters prior to his departure on Friday, October 27, 2006. Thanks Barry for your goodwill gesture! To close, we are looking forward to next year's championship. Discussions are now taking place that we may return to Costa Rica next year. I hope to see more lifters take the opportunity to attend and enjoy the splendid beauty of this Central American paradise. I look forward to seeing you there! Robert Keller General Secretary North American Powerlifting Federation   |
Contest Photos
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