Powerlifting: Muldrock's record haul uplifting

Kerikeri powerlifter Trish Muldrock broke five world records at the Asia-Oceania Championships. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri powerlifter Trish Muldrock returned home this week with a handful of new world records to add to her already impressive international success.

Seven Northland powerlifters attended the newly combined Asia-Oceania Championships in Melbourne last week with all returning home with at least podium finishes in their classes.

Perhaps the most notable of those was an impressive second place overall by Whangarei's Joe Whittaker in the open men's 120kg class, but it was Masters (aged 60-plus) lifter Muldrock who once again broke the records.

She finished with five world records, six Commonwealth records and seven Oceania records, most secured from her performance in the three-lift competition. Although the squat (75kg) yielded no records, her 63kg bench press and dead lift of 122.5kg gave her a total of 15 records spread across the Masters 1, 2 and 3 and open classes.

"Everything really went to plan - the only lift I wasn't happy with was the very last dead lift of the day, so it was a pretty good event for me," she said.

The other records came from her win in the bench press on the opening day of the competition in the 45kg class, where she benched 60kg.

Muldrock said the help of Whangarei's Chris Blair was invaluable.

"He made it very easy for me running the cards the way he did, and keeping an eye on the order I was lifting," she said.

This year the Oceania Powerlifting Championships were combined with the Asia championships and the event was a big success, the diminutive Kerikeri lifter said.

"It was a huge competition, there were more than 500 lifters from more than 20 countries with lifting from start to finish every day of the week," she said.

As well as winning both of her events in her new Master 3 (60+) division, she was named the best overall lifter among women in the division.

Whittaker was another top performer with a combined total of 770kg in the three-lift. He lifted more than double his body weight of 118.3kg in the squat (285kg) and dead lift (285kg), while benching 200kg.

Kaitaia's Taari Murray finished first in the women's Masters 1 (40+) 84+kg class with a bench press of 132.5kg. The two other Kaitaia lifters, Liam and Leon O'Connor, also had success in the bench press. Liam took third in the sub junior 83kg class with a lift of 110kg, while Leon benched 175kg to take second in the Masters 1 120kg class.

Kerikeri's Caleb Wright was first in the Junior Men's 93kg class with a bench press of 195kg, while Kerikeri's Richard Ayton finished first in the Master 3 105kg class with a bench press of 135kg.