There were some strong performances from the Palace of Art Weightlifting Club, coached by former Commonwealth Games lifter Ray Cavanagh, at the Glasgow Open last weekend (4-5 April).

In a pool of 50 lifters (23 of whom were under-13s) the Southside club contributed 18 of the competitors.

All lifters from the club achieved personal bests on the day, and four lifters qualified for the British Juniors on 25th April in Alfreton, Derbyshire

Colette Will (48kg class) did a snatch of 42kg and a clean and jerk of 55kg to total 97kg.  Colette also qualified for the British Under 17s being held in Crystal palace on May 9th.

Haris Ansari (62kg class) snatched 75kg and clean and jerked 95kg to total 170kg, while Mark Fitzpatrick, (77kg class) a relative newcomer to the sport, did a snatch of 75kg and a clean and jerk of 95kg, just missing out on 100kg on his last attempt.

Kimmy Allen, Karen Idun and Ally Shaw all did well in what was their first competition, as did two further newcomers to the sport, Jamie Sinclair and Callum Sharp, a pair of pole-vaulters) who were using this competition as a gauge to their training.

Several younger lifters also showed some promise, especially 11-year-old Dean Brown in the 45kg class and 10 year-old Laura Hewitt (35kg class).  Under-13 lifters are marked mainly on technique and how well they lift the bar, so getting all attempts right is a must.

The club also expects to have five lifters travelling to the under-18 Fulda Cup in Austria on June 12th: Haris Ansari, Mark Fitzpatrick, Colette Will, Amy Hamilton and Stephanie McDiarmid.