On August 16, 2019 in Orlando, FL at the Disney B Resort and Spa, Waxhaw’s own Rebecca Tarleton took home the gold medal in the Master’s One age division for the Full Power (squat, deadlift and bench press) in the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress (AWPC). Tarleton also took the silver medal for the open division’s Full Power. She was accompanied by her trainer, Michael Masi of Pineville, who also competed and placed first in his weight class division.
Tarleton set a couple of Personal Records (PR) during the competition. She hit a PR of 132.2lbs during her bench press, a PR of 264.6 lbs during her deadlift, and matched her PR during the squat with 187.4 lbs. She explained the process for the competition. Weigh-in happens the day before the competition takes place, and that is when you set your starting weights for your lifts. On the day of the competition, order of go is determined by your requested starting weight. As the competition progresses, once you have a clean first lift, the competitor can select what they want their next weight set to. If they didn’t get a clean lift on their first try, they can try again twice more. But after that, if they still don’t have a clean lift, their score is zero and they are effectively disqualified. If they choose to raise the weight, then they return to the holding area until the bar is ready. This helps prevent the staff from having to constantly change the weights on the bars.
Masi also hit a PR during the competition. He won gold in the 90 kg weight class with his PR squat of 562 lbs, his bench press of 319 lbs, and deadlift of 585 lbs. When asked about how it feels to be a World Champion, Masi shared, “It doesn’t feel much different. What keeps me going in powerlifting is my competition with myself. The process doesn’t change in lieu of the title; I still must figure out what I need to do to get better, then execute! I’m focusing on building the online portions of my business, Masi Fitness. As a physical therapist, I would like to reach people who otherwise don’t get the care that they may need. I currently have rehab templates available for people who suffer from shoulder pain and lower back pain. The next step is to put myself out there and reach these people! As for competitions, Rebecca and I both have aspirations to compete at next year’s worlds meet in Limerick, Ireland!”
When asked about Tarleton’s success, Masi explained, “Rebecca placed second in her weight class and first in her age group. She hit a bench PR, a deadlift PR, and a PR total (combined for all lifts). She did great and I am super proud of her. Both of us are encouraging the rest of the team to gear up for next year’s meet. This requires training, qualifying, and traveling, but so far we seem to have more people on board.”
Because this was a world championship, there were people from all across the globe. Tarleton spoke to competitors from Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, and Korea. She enjoyed the atmosphere and camaraderie at the competition and looks forward to working towards next year’s Amateur World Powerlifting Congress.
