This year, the format of the Varsity competition changed to allow all 12 team members to compete, rather than having 10 team members and 2 reserves. Returning team members from last year included Margherita Parimbelli, Louise Pickenhan, Emma Cohen (CUPLC Secretary) and Jenny Lin (CUPLC Women’s Captain). Unfortunately, Margherita became injured one week out from competition, but we were lucky enough to have Udoka Okonkwo substitute for her.

Varsity was held in Cambridge this year, and the competition was split into a morning session starting at 10am and an afternoon session starting at 2pm, with 6 lifters from both Oxford and Cambridge competing in each. Our morning lifters started the day off with a bang, finishing with a 70.15 GoodLift point lead over Oxford. Our very own Louise Pickenhan finished with 88.01GL points, the highest of the session.

A notable performance came from Sophie Fallon, who hit a 42.5kg competition PB of 342.5kg in the u69kg class, easily qualifying her for the British University Championships in April. Ameerah Saliu also hit a huge comp PB of 337.5kg in the u69kg class, also qualifying her for BUCS. Saskia Johnson, Udoka Okonkwo and Ilona Myllyniemi all hit massive comp PBs, demonstrating months of hard work in preparation for Varsity. Ilona won the u76kg class, taking a 7.5kg lead over second place.

The 70.15 GL lead we had on Oxford gave the afternoon lifters a huge confidence boost going into the later session. The standards were high, with Oxford boasting two lifters with international singlets: Gwen Marsden and Rhonda Tse. However, Cambridge also brought out two of their own international lifters: Isabel Dowling, who recently competed at the World University Powerlifting Cup and World Bench Championships, and Jenny Lin, who competed previously at the Sub-Junior World and European Championships.

The afternoon session was close between the two teams, but Cambridge managed to maintain a steady, although modest lead, over Oxford. Our very own Viola Clark (Stash Officer) extended her regional bench press record that she had previously set at Varsity Trials not once, but twice in the u57kg Open class. She finished up with 85.5kg in the bench press, a huge 1.5x bodyweight lift. In addition to this, Viola won the u57kg weight class and earned a half-blue qualification with a 360.5kg total. Issy Dowling finished with a 440kg total, equating to 92.14 GL points, which won her the u69kg class and second-best female lifter overall. This also earned her a full blue qualification. After Varsity, Issy also competed at the British Bench Championships in Kent, earning her a spot on Team GB at the World Bench Press Championships later on this year.

All of our afternoon lifters qualified for BUCS. Gisele Walker added 7.5kg to her competition total from Varsity Trials and won the u84kg class with 405kg, while Jenny Lin added 12.5kg to her competition total to total 370kg in the u69kg class, which also qualified her for Junior Nationals. Emma Cohen pulled a huge 150kg deadlift for her second attempt in the u63kg class and narrowly missed out on 160kg for her third attempt, while Asha Scott hit a 72.5kg bench for her second attempt, which qualified her for the English Bench Championships in April, but narrowly missed out on 77.5kg for her third. Jenny Lin and Gisele Walker also qualified for the English Bench Press Championships with 77.5kg and 92.5kg respectively, and will both be competing alongside Asha in attempts to qualify for the Commonwealth Championships later on this year in Canada.

Overall, the Cambridge Women’s team finished with 638.55 GL points spread across our top 8 lifters, while the Oxford Women’s team finished with 615.70 GL points spread across their top 8 lifters. This meant a Cambridge victory with a 22.85 GL lead, winning us back the Women’s trophy and contributing to our overall (Men & Women) win with a combined 89.13GL point lead over Oxford. After BUCS, British Championships and English Championships, the team will be looking to reclaim victory at Iffley Road Sports Centre in Oxford next year.

His bogey lift of bench was a sub-par 132.5 kg that was enough for 4 th , but a 262.5 kg deadlift was respectable and secured silver. He also wasn’t too far away from the podium for M1 men overall coming 5 th out of 55 lifters. A couple of weeks of recovery training before 14 weeks of head down, butt up, to do some damage at British Masters in June which will be in Edinburgh!

This is a university qualifier meet, open to the members of East Midlands Powerlifting at University. The meet will also form the basis of the selection for the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Match 2025 for members of Cambridge University (as such members of Cambridge University will be prioritised entry). Competition fees will not be required until after the closing date. (CUPLC members will not have a fee)

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Closing date

Closing date for entries: 17th November 2025

No weight class changes will be accepted after this date.

Volunteer

If you’d like to help out as a volunteer (e.g. spotter, loader, referee) please get in touch:

Volunteer form

British Powerlifting Membership

You will need British Powerlifting membership to compete. It’s £49 for open lifters and £25 for juniors (under 23).

Buy it here

Note: Buy a 2026 membership, this will cover you for the comp and for next year.

Competition standards

This comp will be run under the rules of the IPF.

Briefly, this means you will need to:

• wear appropriate IPF kit
• perform the lifts to IPF standards (eg squat depth, lockout on deadlift etc)
• obey the referee commands

There’s some information about competing here.

Send videos to your dev squad leader or the CUPLC group chat for feedback. Make sure you practise your lifts with commands in the weeks before the competition.

Kit

You must wear IPF approved kit to compete. This includes

• an IPF approved singlet
• a plain, form fitting tee-shirt
• plain deadlift socks
• shoes
• underwear

Because this is a classic competition, you are also welcome to wear

• IPF approved wrist wraps
• IPF approved knees sleeves
• IPF approved belt
• an IPF approved tee-shirt with your club logo

For CUPLC members we can lend you approved kit.

Location

TTR (team training room) at the University Sports Centre, Philippa Fawcett Drive, Cambridge.

Post code is CB3 0AS

Free parking on site.

Laya

Kicking off the CUPLC campaign on day 1, alumna Laya Rasul lifted in the -47kg category, returning to the WUCS platform following her 4th place finish in 2024. Laya opened with a matched squat PB of 100kg and took the squat bronze, but depth calls on her subsequent attempts at 110kg meant she was unable to extend this. She then hit a new PB of 57.5kg on bench, placing her in 3rd moving into deadlift, where she opened with a speedy 140kg, achieving a 2.5kg comp PB with 2 further attempts. For her second pull, Laya loaded up a new University World Record of 148.5kg and moved it fast. She then jumped 7kg to 155.5kg for her final attempt, looking to further extend her new record and nudge up into 2nd overall, but despite a valiant effort was unable to get the bar past her knees. Still, Laya finished the day with a big 13.5kg total PB of 306kg, a deadlift gold and University World record (since no other lifters were able to pull past her), and a comfortable place on the overall podium with the bronze medal.

Issy

On day 2, CUPLC newcomer (but previous rival) Issy Dowling competed in the -69kg category. Issy went 3/3 on squats, finishing with a PB of 160kg. However she struggled on bench, usually her strongest lift, with her opener at 97.5kg moving much slower than expected and a technical failure on her second attempt. She managed to correct this on her 3rd bench to finish on 100kg, down on her previous best but still enough for bench gold. Going into deadlifts the competition was tight, with Issy in second place at subtotal but opening lighter than her closest competitors. 157.5kg moved fast but a jump to a 170kg second attempt slowed things down a bit. She went for a PB of 175kg on her third attempt and successfully locked it out after a massive 8 second grind, although this was not enough to prevent other lifters pulling past her onto the podium, leaving Issy with a 435kg total (+2.5 PB) and 4th overall.

Brandon

Day 3 saw alumnus Brandon Teh lifting in the -74kg category, returning from Singapore to represent CUPLC one final time. Brandon, a seasoned international competitor, went 3/3 on squats to finish with a smooth 260kg PB and squat silver. He hit a 157.5kg bench on his second attempt, below his PB but enough for the bench bronze and to be comfortably in second place heading into deadlifts. He put up a clinical performance here, finishing with a 9.5kg PB of 292.5kg on his third pull and deadlift silver. This gave Brandon a huge 21.5kg total PB of 710kg, smashing past the 700kg milestone, as well as the -74kg silver medal (second only to the newly crowned open deadlift world record holder) and 3rd placed best male lifter of the entire competition.

Shubang

Our final competitor, lifting on day 4 in the -93kg class was none other than President Shubang Nagalotimath, who had been balancing competition prep with a medical elective in Vietnam. Unfortunately an injury 1 week out limited his top end strength, but he still came out strong for a 260kg squat on his second attempt, followed by a 152.5kg bench. Following a 280kg deadlift opener he jumped to 302.5kg but could not get it past his knees, failing the lift on what appeared to be a strength issue. With one more attempt remaining, he called for reinforcement backstage from Brandon, who rushed out of the audience to provide the hype. Shubang then came out for another attempt at 302.5kg with the crowd behind him and this time managed to successfully lock out and complete the lift, earning the deadlift silver medal in the process. Although his 715kg total was down on his previous best, Shubang walked away placed 6th in a stacked class, at his first international competition.

Summary

A very successful and fun week for team CUPLC, picking up a total of 9 medals, and despite only fielding 2 lifters per gender, the men’s and women’s teams finished in 5th and 6th place respectively. As a team we would like to thank the GB university coaching team for the opportunity and excellent competition day handling, the other team GB lifters from universities around the country for the camaraderie throughout the week, and everyone who supported from back in Cambridge. Hopefully the 2026 university lifting season will see further success for our club!

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Cost

Free

How it works

You will get put into a group with around 10 other lifters. Your group will start with squats. Your opening squat should be very light, typically 10-15kg below your max.

Everyone gets a chance to do one squat, before we go round the group for everyone’s second squat. Then you get one final attempt at your squat where people often try and go for a PB.

The other groups then do the same, and when they are done your group will do their bench attempts.

The final lift will be deadlifts.

Location

TTR (team training room) at the University Sports Centre, Cambridge. Post code is CB3 0AS

Timetable

Provisional timings are

What to wear

Wear your usual gym kit. You are welcome to wear wrist wraps, knee sleeves and a belt.

You MUST cover your lower legs for deadlifts. You can wear long knee-length socks or leggings/jogging bottoms.

Bench Nationals and English Bench Press Championships 2025

Our freshly minted M1 athlete Sophie took home the gold medal in the 76 kg M1 category at the English Bench Press Championships held at Moulton College, Northampton, and the bronze medal at Bench Nationals in Cardiff.

A back injury in 2024 meant that it was bench-only for the time being, and she might as well take this opportunity to get as huge as possible. She qualified for both Nationals and English with 62.5 kg at the Anglian Bench Championships in late 2024. She spent the next few months with a serious case of FAFO and got nowhere, chasing 65 kg like a dog chasing its tail.

Cardiff was her first national comp so the only goal here was to enjoy the experience - she made podium and got invited to join the GB squad.

After no progress in the last 6 months she hired CUPLC alumnus Charlie as her coach. Things were looking up. Unfortunately a rib injury, a mystery virus and a trip to A&E the week prior to the English didn’t do much for her comp prep.

Coach Charlie managed to sort out the warmup and attempt strategy and she just clinched first place with 62.5 kg.

East Midlands Masters and Novices Championships 2025

Nik joined CUPLC in October with many years of experience as a gymbro. Realising that he should probably start training legs, he set out with one goal: get a squat bigger than his bench. After some persuading he learnt what progressive overload was and decided to give it a go. And what a go it was, he made some huge gains in his first few months and decided to enter his first comp in April in the 83 kg M1 category.

We all know your first comp should be chill, but this wasn’t Nik’s style. He wanted to qualify for Bench Nationals in 2026 which meant hitting a huge bench of 130 kg. He loaded 125 kg as a quick primer - a few of the other lifters in his flight thought it was some mistake. But no, this flew up so he went for 130 kg as his second and nailed that too. A quick look at the qualifying amount for the class above meant he’d need to load 137.5 kg. What’s the worst that could happen? Better to have tried and failed than to wonder ‘what if’, so that’s what he loaded. Some hushed whispers from the stands as people thought he’d made another mistake with his attempt selection.

137.5 kg turned out to be the grind of his life. New grey hairs sprouted in the 84 years it took to press out. But he DID press it out, giving him one of the biggest benches of the whole comp and a new East Midlands record.

Nik admits his squat could still use some work, but a solid deadlift of 200 kg means he’s a gymbro no more. Well done Nik, CUPLC are proud of you.

European Masters Classic Powerlifting Championships

Dave is one of the older CUPLC alumni, from a time of spit and sawdust at Fenners only spoken about in hushed tones within the palatial walls of the University Sports Centre. Legend has it if you say ‘Squat’ seven times in the mirror, then he will appear.

He started his year in February with a strong showing at Europeans with a silver, once again the bridesmaid to Jani from Finland. Jani hails from the town of Oulu, where it reaches very sub-zero temperatures in February, and with no direct flights from anywhere sensible, clearly there’s no way 2026 Euros would be held there to give Jani a home advantage next time. Ah wait…Although ‘disappointed’ with the jury’s view on his depth, Dave did manage to extend his squat World Record, then follow up with a bench PB for a total PB at international level.

Next up is British Masters in June where he hopes to continue getting stronger through his 40s and hit more PB on the way to retaining his title of Best Male Lifter from 2024. After that will be Worlds in October, once again South Africa but this time Cape Town, where Dave aims to finally topple Jani!

Squat, squat, squat, squat, squat, squat, squ…

The men’s team this year looked the strongest it had ever been, as despite losing long serving CUPLC hall of famer Raghul Parthipan, much beloved Osa Iluobe, and big bencha Ollie Little, the team had gained the likes of Isaac Wong, Subjnr U74kg national gold medalist in 2022 and Etinosasere (the freak) as well as Osa’s legacy in Okolo Chichi, better known as Faze.

Having calculated that the women had pulled off the Herculean task of beating the OUPLC women, the CUPLC men kicked off flight A, most prominently characterized by Santosh “the guru” having his personal Dylan Nelson moment on both his second and third attempts, and narrowly missing a 197.5 kg squat on his third due to a technical mistake. Despite a wonky knee for the better part of a year, Charlie Cambridge (from Cambridge) pulled off a 3/3 performance with a 215 kg squat, while his newest addition to #teamcham in Faze finished off with what was possibly the fastest 215 kg 3rd attempt in history. Alek Radic hit a PB 215 kg despite the bar coming to an absolute standstill mid way through, while Harry Cookson, most noted for missing his spot at Varsity 2023 due to a night out and a flight of stairs, hit a massive 220 kg PB. 18 year old Isaac wong put everyone else in the flight to shame, squatting a massive 225 kg (4 red ladies!) with relative ease, leaving the U74 CUPLC squat record with dread of the future.

On to the second flights, Eti “the yeti”, a first year MEDIC squatted 232.5 kg with absolute ease, while Sebastian Cornwell, former hockey/rugby/cricket jack of all trades turned into Locked-In-Syndrome Seb (U93) hit 235 kg despite absolutely dive-bombing into the hole. Shubang Shubz (U93) the hype king narrowly failed 242.5 kg on his third (all while doing it high bar), leaving Men’s captain and triply injured old man Brandon Teh (U74) with the heaviest squat of the day at 242.5 kg, sporting his unnecessarily flashy and twatty GB singlet. The men had established a strong lead by this point, but the likes of Malcolm Parris, an ox** fresher weighing in at a mere 75 kg, who narrowly missed a 240 kg squat, meant we had to continue to execute well.

Moving on to the bench press, Isaac continued with a 3/3 performance and a 117.5 kg bench press, securing a maximum 50% bench to deadlift ratio while Faze countered with his own 44.8% of 130 kg. Alek matched 130 kg, while the long armed Charlie got a PB of 147.5 kg, and Harry just hit the 150 kg mark. The second flight of men saw Shubang hit a PB of 147.5 kg while Brandon couldn’t seem to understand the concept of “not hitting the rack”, missing his last bench on downward motion and breaking his seemingly eternal 9/9 streak. Eti just missed his final bench of 162.5 kg despite having hit it in training due to a misgroove, while Seb closed off the flight with a massive 162.5 kg bench, leaving CUPLC alumnus, livestream commentator and U93 kg CUPLC bench record holder of 165 kg, Ollie Little, maintaining his grasp of the record by the skin of his teeth. The men by this point had continued to edge out Ox**, now ahead by a number of GL points in the mid teens.

On to the most exciting part of any meet, the deadlifts, saw a myriad of dramas, from Harry Cookson facing the reality that never locking out in training actually translated into not locking out in comp, and making a ridiculous 30 kg jump from 250 kg to 280 kg but narrowly missing it on a wobble at the top, to Charlie Cambridge charging out like a triceratops, but very narrowly missing out a humongous 302.5 kg final deadlift. Alek Radic similarly just missed out on 280 kg for his final deadlift, while Isaac Wong hit a smoooooth 247.5 kg third attempt to secure his full blue total as only a first year. Faze proceeded to hit quite possibly the easiest third attempt ever and smoked 290 kg, hitting his first 9/9 in the process. By this point, the Cambridge win was all but secured after everyone in the second flight hit their openers, but the show still went on with Brandon Teh hitting an immaculate “hall goes quiet” belt flick 265 kg, Sebastian Cornwell grinding through 267.5 kg and Shubang absolutely ripping 302.5 kg off the floor with much more in the tank. To conclude the ridiculous lifts, we has Eti, our first year medic, hit 307.5kg for the very final deadlift of the day, to which he then celebrated with the most wholesome double thumbs up in CUPLC history (perhaps by the end of his time in Cambridge we may see a 400 kg deadlift at varsity).

The Men had succeeded in their mission of securing the varsity win for the 12th consecutive year, beating Oxford by a whopping 25+ GLP. Upon this announcement from Yaron the MC of the day, a roar emerged from the men’s team and the now customary tradition of catapulting the men’s captain into the sky resulted in Brandon Teh and his underweight body being shot over a meter into the air by the oh-so-strong Cambridge Men’s team. Brandon took the top lifter of the day at 98.89 GLP, followed by Shubang Nagalotimath (94.19 GLP) then Etinosasere (92.52 GLP).

Brandon extends his thanks to OUPLC for being incredible competitors, his fellow executive committee, all the helpers, WhiteLightsMedia for the fantastic stream and of course his stronger than life Men’s team. The quality of the Varsity event, in both production and lifting has become truly unrivaled in comparison to any other regional competition. As fresh (and seemingly ever more talented) blood is injected into CUPLC, so begins a new reign in our glorious history.

2024 marked the third Oxford vs Cambridge Women’s Powerlifting Varsity Match. After two years undefeated, sometimes by the most miniscule of margins, the new women’s team were keen to continue the legacy of those set before us. To heighten the stakes, Oxford presented the strongest women’s side we have seen thus far, including the likes of Novice Captain Gwen Marsden and Women’s Captain Rhonda Tse, both fresh off their international debut at the World University Powerlifting Cup in October. As a last consideration, Cambridge Women’s Squad was for sure in what we would call “a rebuild year” with many of our strongest faces, including previous president Samin Moghimiasil, and previous Women’s Captain Amy Williams having finished up their time in Cambridge. Pre-match projections by the CUPLC Captains had Oxford 15gl ahead on a good day, making the prospect of a third consecutive win seem an impossible task!

Cambridge presented their heaviest roster thus far, meaning that compared with the majority lightweight OUPLC women, only two CUPLC lifters were in Flight A. CUPLC had their first ever U47kg lifters in novices Luise Pickenhan and Allaya Rasul. Despite a rocky prep due to injury, the nerves of kicking off the day and a (minor) head injury whilst checking her rack height, Luise went out to a successful 3/3 squat, handling the weights with ease and poise. Allaya also went 3/3 on squat, setting the first ever U47kg CUPLC squat record with 90kg, within spitting distance of the double bodyweight milestone! Oxford responded with extreme competence and execution, with all but two lifters going 3/3. We also witnessed Gwen Marsden squat a humongous 112.5kg at only 42.6kg bodyweight, with her and newcomer Catherine Momjian squatting heaviest in Flight A. Oxford had put themselves on the map, and now it was up to Cambridge to respond.

Flight B included several more of the Cambridge Varsity debuts, including Isabel Shaw-Smith, Aneesha Manocha, Liz Stevenson, and Emma Onah. They joined veterans Anna Clay, Ada Adamczyk, Lauren Domfe, and Women’s Captain Rachel Knight. Rounding out this flight were the two remaining Oxford lifters, newcomers Rachel Walsh and Alisa Brown. In another consistent round, only 2 attempts were missed out of 30. Anna (54.9) brought us a new CUPLC Squat record for the U57kg class, with a whopping 140kg. We also saw some of the heaviest ever squats in a varsity match, with a crazy 152.5kg for Emma (71.2 - U76kg CUPLC record), a massive 165kg for Ada (95.65) and a jaw-dropping 182.5kg for Lauren (86.8 - a new 84+ kg record). All three of these women had experienced setbacks with injury and illness throughout their Varsity preps, so it was incredible to see everything come together on the day. After squats, Cambridge had a comfortable 35gl point lead, but it was still all to play for, with the Cambridge lifters needing to keep their heads if they were to secure victory.

Coming into the bench, the competition was heating up. Flight A saw a trickier time for the Oxford lifters, with unfortunately only 3 of their 8 lifters securing a third attempt. Women’s bench press is the place where this is most likely to happen, as the minimum 2.5kg jump can make the difference between a bench moving like a dream, and it being absolutely stapled to your chest! The girls responded well to the challenge, with many of the girls leaving the platform with a smile on their faces regardless! Our Cambridge lifters also continued the club’s good day, with Allaya hitting a new PB and 3/3 lifts, and Luise (43.95) setting the CUPLC U47kg bench record with 50kg, a huge feat at such a light bodyweight. To finish the flight, we also got to see a phenomenal feat again from OUPLC’s Gwen, who benched an unofficial junior world record with 75kg.

Flight B again left Cambridge to respond, with another consistent showing in which CUPLC hit 22/24 bench attempts. Oxford lifters Rachel and Alisa performed very well, despite an error made by officials with Alisa’s initial third attempt meaning she was given the chance to take a 4th attempt as per IPF rules, which she smoked! We saw some super proficient benching, with 5 of 7 CUPLC lifters hitting a “red plate” (75+kg) by their third attempts - a huge milestone for many women. Three lifters, Liz (80.0) (in her first IPF competition no less!), Emma (71.2), and Lauren (86.8) hit 77.5kg with absolute ease, Women’s Captain Rachel pressed 82.5kg (68.0), and absolute beast Ada (95.65) rounded out the flight with an insane 95kg to smash the 84+ record. Will she hit 100kg in her captaincy year next Varsity? You’ll have to tune in to find out! As the bench concluded, Cambridge conserved their lead, with only the hurdle of the deadlift to overcome! However, the team knew it was, as they say, “not over ‘til the bar hits the floor”.

In Flight A of deadlifts, Oxford put up an absolutely incredible fight, with all but one lifter hitting their final deadlifts of the day. Some highlights in this include Gwen’s (42.6) 142.5kg lift, a mahoosive 3.3x her bodyweight, and newcomers Beth Eames (59.25) 152.5kg and Laura Haas’ (56.75) 155kg pulls rounding out flight A. Our smallest (but potentially mightiest) squad members put in another cracking performance, with the grind of the day from Luise to secure her 3/3 on deadlift and a sensational 2.5x bodyweight pull, and Allaya (46.05) setting the CUPLC -47kg deadlift record with 132.5kg for a 2.9x bodyweight finish. At the conclusion of flight A, Cambridge were 16gl in the lead providing that Flight B made their openers, so all that was left was to wait with baited breath.

Flight B finished the day the way it started, with incredibly consistent lifting from both teams resulting in only 2 missed attempts out of 30. OUPLCs two final lifters were a complete credit to their team, finishing the day with 145kg for Rachel (68.3) and a phenomenally ground out 150kg for Alisa (61.75) after getting the crowd hyped up for the last few pulls. After securing their openers, the rest of deadlifts were very much a victory lap for the CUPLC girls, with Isabel, our olympic lifter and hook grip queen, securing well over double bodyweight 137.5kg (57.0) to end her first BP appearance. Our other two newcomers, crossfitter Aneesha and shooter and field athlete Liz both finished strong, with 147.5kg (73.65) and 155kg (80.0) respectively leading to smiles and celebrations on the platform. To follow, Anna (54.9) secured a new U57kg record with an absolute sumo clinic, grinding out 162.5kg with unparalleled patience off the floor. Ada hit an incredible 170kg, narrowly missing her third attempt after nursing a back injury for much of the prep. Emma (71.2) established herself in CUPLC history with a 177.5kg pull, becoming one of only 4 women to ever total over 400kg in the club (407.5kg). Penultimately, Women’s Captain Rachel (68.0) pulled 187.5kg to increase the U69kg deadlift and total records. Finally, and in front of a crowd absolutely roaring for her success, Lauren completed her final pull for CUPLC, becoming the first woman in varsity history to deadlift 200kg.

The win was, thankfully, secured. In the end, the women’s team had 645.7gl, making them the strongest women’s team in the three years of separate competitions. We achieved a margin of 31.31gl, also the largest margin by which we have ever been victorious. This was a historic women’s varsity for many reasons, but included some notable performances. Gwen of OUPLC was best lifter with over 100gl, which has never been achieved in a varsity by any man or woman. On the Cambridge side, records were smashed all round, and we also had four women total over the 400kg mark, something that had only been done before by Lauren in 2023.

I would like to acknowledge the phenomenal hard work of each of the women on the squad, who responded to challenges in their preps with courage and tenacity, and brought a varsity performance we can all be proud of. I would also like to thank the women of OUPLC who brought an unbelievable performance, and were as always worthy competitors. My thanks go to our sponsors, Mirafit and SBD, and White Lights Media who ran our livestream with unparalleled professionalism. We also appreciate all the helpers, officials, and spectators who took the time to help with the event and cheer us on. Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to the men’s team, captained by Brandon Teh, on their momentous win over OUPLC, and my personal thanks to Brandon for supporting me and the women’s team in achieving this victory.

Day 1

The first day of BUCS saw the U47, U52, and U57 women take to the platform in the morning, with the U59 and U74 men in the afternoon. Vikki Li would be competing in the U52 class, with a personal goal of a 290kg total to achieve a full-blue. Katie O’Flaherty and Anna Clay were nominated 5th and 2nd in the U57 class respectively, and so were looking to dominate the podium. Yaron had drawn the short straw and was tasked with handling two of CUPLC’s most hyper lifters, while CUPLC’s favourite supportive SO Adrian came along to handle Anna.

Vikki went 3 for 3 on squats, with an easy 100kg on her third attempt to hit a 5kg PB despite only doing three sets in the warmup room. With Flight A squats complete, it was time for CUPLC’s strong U57s in Flight C to start warming up. Now, while many powerlifters claim to lift heavy in order to fight their demons, Katie took things one step further by carrying out a full-blown exorcism as she warmed up for squats, contorting her body in ways that no powerlifter ever should.

And yet despite that, Vikki thought it looked fun enough to join in. Katie’s opener moved as expected, but her second attempt fell off her back after stepping on the centre spotter’s foot! Fortunately, the jury was in a good mood that day and offered Katie an extra attempt, which she absolutely smashed, matching her comp PB. She took a 5kg jump for her third attempt, leaving her with a 122.5kg squat and 3 out of 4 successful squats. In the meantime, Anna easily squatted a massive 132.5kg on her third attempt, redeeming herself after missing it at Varsity.

Next up for the bench press – Vikki quietly built up her total once again going 3 for 3 and achieving a 57.5kg bench.

Katie opened with her previous comp PB, then took a 2.5kg jump to 62.5kg on her second attempt. On her third attempt, she managed to press 65kg but not without jumping the command. Anna’s second attempt was a matched comp PB, so she added 2.5kg for her third attempt of 72.5kg. After a fight with the bar that the commentators described as “the best grind so far”, she was given three white lights and a new personal record!

Finally, the much-anticipated deadlifts. Vikki’s opener flew, so she took a big 10kg jump up to 132.5kg to hit her 290kg total and get the full-blue. Yaron then submitted a massive 145kg for the third attempt, which would match the current BUCS deadlift record and pull Vikki into third place. After Vikki’s secret twin sister, who was also contending for third place, missed her final deadlift, Vikki’s final attempt was dropped to a far less terrifying 140kg. She stepped onto the platform, hyped up on Christian hymns (not a joke), and pulled the bar with everything she had left. The bar moved slowly, but she locked it out – getting two white lights and the third place position! Her joy would be short-lived as the jury, who by now seemed to be not having such a good day, decided to overturn her lift, knocking her back down to 5th place. Next up would be Katie and Anna. Katie was aiming for third place in the U57s, and her first two attempts moved well, with Katie matching her PB with her second pull. Finally, 142.5kg was loaded on the bar, and Katie got in the zone with Encanto’s ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ (and frankly, Yaron would have preferred if she didn’t sing about Bruno either). As Katie locked out her final deadlift, it occurred to her that she had successfully pulled herself into 3rd place! Unfortunately though, the advantage of the deadlift battle was not on her side, and she had to retreat to the stands to watch two more lifters attempt to knock her off the podium. The first of them missed her third attempt, and for a moment it looked like Katie would keep her spot. However, the second lifter did manage to steal away the podium position. Meanwhile, Anna was busy making sure nobody could steal her 2nd place medal (foreshadowing). Her opener moved with ease once again, and 10kg was added to the bar for a successful 155kg second attempt. Finally, Anna attempted 160kg for her third, and the bar crept up her legs in what would be another fantastic fight. However, she locked it out so fast that her shoulder rebounded forwards, and the referees penalised her for having a soft lockout. Despite the red lights, she finished up in 2nd place.

It was therefore a surprise when Katie was given the bronze medal, and Anna was not called up to the podium (due to an unfortunate computing error that meant Open lifters were grouped separately from Junior lifters on the scoresheet). However, after some excellent negotiating by the CUPLC supporters, Anna was subsequently awarded with her silver medal (and Katie quietly left the venue with her accidental bronze).

After all the drama of the morning lifting, Brandon Teh would surely have an easy time in the afternoon… right?

Brandon continues to pretend to be an U74, this time weighing in at a hefty 71.1kg, and was in safe hands with Charlie and Vikki sticking around to handle him. His opening squat looked easy, but his quads began to cramp. After applying enough Deep Heat to make a dragon sweat, he came out for the second attempt, just 2.5kg below his comp PB. It moved slowly, but well enough that he slapped on another 5kg for a big 225kg third attempt despite the other leg now cramping up. After what might be the toughest grind of his powerlifting career, Brandon traded his ability to walk for a new squat PB. As he crawled off the platform, he could be heard reminding everyone around him for the 47th time that day that he wasn’t really even planning to try hard that day, just in case they thought he found that lift heavy.

Bench press went with barely a hitch (other than, you’ve guessed it, more cramping), with Brandon finishing the event with three more good lifts and huge 145kg bench press to match his previous personal record.

As Brandon warmed up for deadlifts, he continued to cramp. While his opener moved with lightning speed, he once again hobbled off the platform. After a 15kg jump, his second attempt moved similarly well. Brandon sat in 2nd place at this point, and for this third attempt took a considerably smaller 7.5kg jump up to 257.5kg to solidify his position on the podium. His final pull was just as rapid, and as he walked off the platform, he nearly fell as his legs reminded him once again that they don’t work like they used to before.

To everyone’s surprise, Brandon was able to step onto the podium unassisted to receive his silver medal. We can’t wait to see what he is able to achieve at Junior Nats in a few weeks! Maybe even a bench press PB… (Brandon would go on to win nationals, albeit without a bench press PB).

Day 2

Early on a Sunday morning, two more CUPLC members dragged themselves out of bed to head to Moulton College: Karen Soh, an U63 competitor, and her handler/driver/hype woman Amy Williams. Karen didn’t have the best prep, having to rush it and fit it around a stressful exam. However, this didn’t stop her from starting out the day strong, successfully getting all three squats and a huge 107.5kg, making the third squat move faster than the second! No doubt thanks to the Succession theme song pounding her eardrums (no, I’m still not joking – Cambridge students are a different breed). Following on from squats, Karen’s bench opener of 50kg looked very comfortable. However, the referees that morning had apparently been up all night reading mean tweets about powerlifting referees, and as a result were dealing out some vindictive pauses, leading Karen to unfortunately miss her second and third attempts. Finally, on to the deadlifts, and Karen’s opener was so easy that she took a massive 15kg jump to her second attempt of 125kg, which moved fast off the floor but slowed down a bit at lockout. Finally, Karen took a smaller 7.5kg jump for her third attempt, and while it moved similarly fast off the floor she was unable to lock it out. But she still walked away with a classic 2-red-plate deadlift!

While all this was going on, the U69 women arrived for their afternoon flight. Representing CUPLC was Zara Guppy, a plant-powered plant scientist best known for her ability to grind a lift for over 10 seconds. And former CUPLC member, now representing [redacted], Domiziana Turcatti and her handlers “BUCS legends” Raghul and Suzie.

With Zara in the earlier flight, she was up to squat first. Having recently acquired a coach, Zara was keen to try out her new comp tactics, which included waiting 10 seconds after the start command - no doubt in an attempt to unsettle her competition and throw them off their game. Zara’s first two squats moved very well, and for her final squat of 110kg she tipped forward out of the hole, and for a moment it looked like she’d lose her balance! But Zara was in fact perfectly balanced (as all things should be) and with one hell of a grind managed to good morning the bar back up to the start position to secure three white lights. Following that flight, it was Domiziana’s turn to lift. She was nominated third place and was therefore determined to end up on the podium at the end of the day. Her first two (massive) squats looked identical despite a 7.5kg jump, but given what was on the line she decided to take a conservative 5kg jump to her third squat of 142.5kg. To nobody’s surprise, it moved very easily and she walked off the platform with a comp PB and plenty of energy left in the tank for the rest of the day.

On bench press, Zara mirrored her squat performance by making her first two attempts move easily. As she came out for her third attempt at 70kg, the livestream commentators began to get excited in anticipation of the grind that was about to come. And they were not disappointed. Zara fought with the bar for what felt like an eternity (which, by the way, is not easy to do in the bench press) but once again managed to lock it out for a full complement of white lights. Keen to not be overshadowed by an actual Cambridge student, Domiziana returned to the platform in the next flight for her bench press. Just like Zara, her first two attempts moved very comfortably, and she took a small 2.5kg jump to 77.5kg for her final attempt. She looked very focused as she approached the platform and set up for the lift, and the attempt moved exactly like a third attempt should, securing Domiziana yet another good lift and yet another PB! Things seemed auspicious as she entered the deadlifts still nominated in third place.

But first up to pull would be Zara. Her first attempt moved well, but her second attempt of 150kg got a little stuck at the lockout. However, by this point it should be clear that you should never bet against Zara. So, as she walked onto the platform for her final massive grind of the day, waiting for her was 160kg – potentially a new PB. The bar moved rapidly off the floor but once again got stuck at lockout, and the entire audience was screaming at her for a full ten seconds (not even an exaggeration) as she fought to get the bar that last inch or two up her thighs. After showing a room full of seasoned powerlifters the best fight they’ve seen in their entire careers, Zara gave up and dropped the bar. Time stopped for a moment as she took a couple of steps back. Nobody was sure if she was even still conscious at this point, but as the spotters rushed in to catch her they realised the only thing she needed them to lift up were her feels. Zara may not have got her deadlift PB, but she left the platform as the crowd favourite and a newly-crowned monarch – “Queen of the Grind”.

However, the excitement was far from over. Domiziana was up to secure her podium spot, and things looked good as she stepped out to take the last opener of her flight, making light work of her first attempt. Her second attempt was similarly easy, and her prospects continued to appear bright. Despite sandbagging her second, she only took a 7.5kg jump up to 180kg for her final attempt; a pull for third place. While it slowed down at lockout, it moved far easier than a third attempt ever should. At this point, Domiziana had a 400kg total and third place under her belt with only two lifters left to follow: one who was already in second place, and the person in fourth place who appeared to be pulling for a deadlift record but would not surpass her for the podium spot. However, Domiziana’s seat was about to be challenged as the fourth place forecast upped her attempt selection to everyone’s surprise, looking to not only demolish the deadlift record but also to pull ahead of Domiziana! Her and Suzie could be seen watching from the sidelines as the final puller of the flight put in the grind of her life – albeit with a little bit of downward movement. Domiziana looked on with a mix of emotions as her rival was awarded two white lights – disappointment at ending up in fourth place despite achieving a total that would have won the previous year, but disbelief and awe at what her competition had done just to be able to beat her (Domiziana would then go on to wipe the floor with this rival at the Manchester Open a few months later).

Day 3

On the afternoon of day 3 of BUCS, the U76 women were competing. Among them, Cambridge’s own Emma Onah. She came into her first national competition with personal targets in mind. And after her first two squats moved easily, she loaded up 130kg on the bar and squatted it so fast that she left the platform in disbelief! With one personal goal (and personal record) out the way, Emma returned to the platform for bench press and made 60kg fly off her chest on her second attempt. However, after a further 5kg jump for her third attempt, she got stuck in the midrange and unfortunately got her first failed lift of the day. Finally, the turn of the deadlifts. Emma had a massive third attempt of 160kg planned for the day, and in fact she even had the biggest opener of her flight! She then took a 7.5kg jump up to 157.5kg, and while it moved fast off the floor it did slow down at the lockout. Unperturbed, she loaded up 162.5kg for her final lift of the day – in excess of her own target! Once again, she ripped the bar off the floor, but this time the lockout proved too tough and she was unable to complete the lift.

Despite the fact that most of the lifters had been complete strangers at the start of the day, the atmosphere was extremely supportive and congratulatory at the medals ceremony. Emma felt touched by the camaraderie that is characteristic of this sport, further reminding her why she loves it so much.

Day 4

The fourth day of BUCS saw only the U93 men competing. CUPLC had no lifters that day. But there were several reports of a ghostly sad-looking man at the venue walking around eating carrots with his singlet pulled down to his waist. Although nobody ever saw such a man on the platform.

Day 5

The final day of BUCS saw the clash of the titans, with the U105 men competing in the morning followed by the U84 and 84+ women and the U120 and 120+ men in the afternoon. Representing Cambridge were Ada Adamczyk and Jasmine Mack in the U84s, with Zara and Jane tagging along to handle Ada. Drama started early, with both lifters missing weigh ins due to Yaron’s slow driving (and possibly also other factors), but the referees were feeling generous that day and let them weigh in before the men anyway. Their troubles were not over though! While Ada weighed in successfully and immediately went to town on a bottle of water, Jasmine was still too heavy and had to spend the next 30 minutes spitting into a cup. Finally, after a tense waiting period during which Jasmine nearly purchased a pack of leeches off Amazon, she weighed in again and was exactly 84.0. Jasmine and Ada were nominated 3rd and 5th respectively, but the 2nd place nominee didn’t turn up, leaving the podium positions open.

In the squats, Ada skipped her way to the platform, hitting three successful lifts and ending up with 145kg (and a 5kg PB). Jasmine’s approach was far more calm, and she squatted 165kg on her third attempt: a massive 20kg PB! On bench press, both lifters managed to press 80kg on their second attempts. Ada took a 2.5kg jump for her third attempt, which proved a little too heavy for the day. Jasmine took a 5kg jump for her final bench press after the second attempt flew. While she was able to launch it off her chest, she lost the battle in the midrange and was unable to complete the lift.

The final deadlifts of the entire competition started, and this time Jasmine would open before Ada. However, she lost balance on the way up and took a couple of steps backwards, resulting in red lights from the refs. Ada’s totally original deadlift setup allowed her to make light work of her own opener. Second round came around and Jasmine was under pressure to get herself on the board despite taking a 10kg jump - and she did not disappoint, hoisting up the bar as if it was empty and landing herself in 2nd place. Ada skipped onto the platform once again for her second attempt, and once again did not appear to struggle. Finally, in the third round, Jasmine added another 12.5kg onto her second attempt to have a go at pulling 167.5kg, which would pull her into first place. However, she forgot that it was supposed to feel heavy and the barbell flew upwards all the way to lockout, giving BUCS’ calmest lifter a big 12.5kg deadlift PB and a temporary hold on the 1st place spot! After Ada’s easy second attempt, Jane and Zara convinced her to add 7.5kg and go for a big hail Mary third attempt of 170kg. Unfortunately, Ada didn’t know what a hail Mary third attempt was, and proceeded to pull it like it was an opener. After leaving the platform, Ada needed to show off that she had plenty of energy left in the tank, so she picked up Jane and threw her in the air like it was her bat mitzvah. In the end, Jasmine placed 2nd after her main competitor pulled her out of 1st place, and Ada ended up in 4th place just 5kg below the person in 3rd. An incredible performance from both lifters, both of whom still have at least two years left at Cambridge!

Full Blues:

• Vikki Li - 52kg - 290kg
• Ada Adamczyk - 84kg -395kg
• Anna Clay - 57kg - 360kg
• Brandon Teh - 74kg - 627.5kg

Half Blues:

• Katie O’Flaherty - 57kg - 327.5kg

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