Commonwealth Championships - Sun City, South Africa, 2024

We are a volunteer run, local powerlifting club based out of Bangor Aurora.

Most of us train 4 times a week to get stronger and better at our chosen sport, powerlifting.

All our intense training efforts have paid off and 3 of our members have been chosen to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa in October of this year.

This is an incredible testament to the hard work and support of every member of the club who support each other throughout tough and long training sessions.

This achievement, however, comes with a burden. Powerlifting receives no support from Sport NI, despite Northern Ireland being host to many World Class lifters and International Champions.

As a rough estimate of costs, each lifter can be expected to pay around £2200 each in order to travel to South Africa and compete.

As such, we are asking for your support. If you would like to be a part of our journey and help get us to South Africa to show them what the Northern Irish are made of then please feel free to donate to our fundraiser.

If you don't want to donate at this time then check out our social media instagram.com/rhyno_powerlifting/ and show your support there.

Come down to our training sessions and speak to our lifters, we'll be more than happy to help you out with your training and maybe convince you to join our club and start your powerlifting journey.

Let's meet the lifters;

First up we have Charley;

Charley is one of our youngest lifters and one of our most competitive. At 16 years old she has broken multiple Northern Irish records and isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

She's all fired up for South Africa and she'll be sure to have a crack at the commonwealth deadlift record which currently sits at 146kgs in her category.

Next up we have our oldest Rhyno! Jim is a veteran competitor who has represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland twice before. He's no stranger to a fierce battle on the platform and will be eyeing himself a podium finish at this years Commonwealths.

Last up we have our club President & head coach, Michael. With 2 international caps for Ireland at the world championships, Michael has set his sights on breaking the Commonwealth squat record which currently sits at a massive 351 kg.

All of our lifters are training hard to bring their best and represent Northern Ireland in South Africa, follow along on our journey.

And remember, our sessions are open to anyone who wants to learn how to lift and get stronger. No prior experience is necessary and it is suitable for anyone at any age.