Moray teacher Graeme Reid to represent Great Britain at IPF European Championships after setting new bench press record
A MORAY teacher has been selected to represent Great Britain at a powerlifting championship in Istanbul after “unofficially” breaking his bench press record.
Graeme Reid broke his own Scottish record at an event in Nottingham recently by bench pressing 222.5kg.
The event, which brought together internationals from the world of powerlifting and weightlifting together in a cross federation bench press competition, went well for Graeme as he narrowly missed out on lifting 230kg (500lbs) due to a technicality.
Despite the record being unofficial, Graeme’s stellar performance caught the eye of the British team and he has now been invited to lift for Great Britain at the IPF European Championships in Turkey next month.
Graeme said: “This is special as I have lifted in the commonwealth championships, two world championships but never a European championship so this is essentially the “full set”.
“I am up against some big lifters and I’m aiming to bench 500lbs/ 230kg, have a lot of fun doing so and hopefully podium.”
Graeme, who works as a teacher with the Moray Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs team, will be looking to build on last year’s World Single Lift Championships where he won gold for Great Britain.
He will continue to train at The Rusty Barbell in Elgin in preparation for the event where Graeme says he will “hone his technique and build his strength”.
But the Moray strongman will also train with the rest of the squad in London with Graeme crediting the team’s coach Martin Marshall with helping him make remarkable progress in recent years.
“Martin has always extended this kind offer to myself and I credit this for my progress,” Graeme said.
“I’m also thankful as ever to Mike Gibson my coach for his mastery and commitment to producing exceptional training regimes as well as Martin who has continued to mentor me.
“As ever the biggest thanks goes to my wife for allowing me to pursue excellence in the sport I love.”
