A NATIONAL able-bodied bench-press record is poised to be broken by wheelchair user Kristin Templeman at a Fremantle powerlifting competition next month.
Ms Templeman, who was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and scoliosis, started powerlifting just one year ago.
Next month, she’ll be attempting to break the record at the Deadliest Deadlift and Bench Press Competition in Freo, competing in the able-bodied category and bench-pressing 65 kilos
Ms Templeman admits she didn’t think she’d “come this far” in such a short amount of time, especially in the face of a lifetime of wheelchair use and health complications.
• Kristin Templeman is aiming to break a national bench-press record. Photo by Katherine Kraayvanger
“When I watched the Paralympics last year, I’d only been doing this for a couple of months, and I was watching them lift and [thought to myself], ‘there’s no way I could do that’,” Ms Templeman said.
“I was told as a child I would never be able to compete against able bodied people, and I was always different… to think that I could actually get the national record [is pretty special].”
Ms Templeman says she’s “very nervous” to compete but is keen to define a different picture of people living with disabilities, the stereotypes of which can be “very frustrating”.
“I’m worried people will look at me and think, ‘why is she here?… I also want to show everyone I can do it,” she said.
“Breaking a national record in an able-bodied [category] is more exciting than breaking a disabled record, because [able-bodied people] have more leg drive, and mine’s more in my arms.
“When I first looked up powerlifting, I thought it was the same as bodybuilding.
“I always thought it was people with huge muscles and that sort of thing, but it’s not.
“Anyone can do it… I just want to show people that it doesn’t matter about your disability [when competing].”
Ms Templeman has been training under the tutelage of record holding power-lifter Peter Mayhew, who has been coaching Olympic and world-level athletes since 1978.
Mr Mayhew himself suffered a traumatic brain injury 11 years ago and managed to work his strength back up to break national and world records, but says this “pales in comparison” to what Ms Templeman will achieve next month.
“I was in a coma and in a wheelchair and couldn’t speak, and I basically rehabilitated myself,” Mr Mayhew said.
“You then have a massive appreciation of people with disabilities like Krissie, she’s had this all her life… that suddenly made me realise that if I can do this for myself, I could help other people.
“For me, when I met Krissie, she epitomised everything I felt about myself when I was rehabilitating myself… I feel very proud about what she’s achieved so far and what she’s going to achieve.”
Following the December competition and national qualification, Ms Templeman’s plan is to podium at the 2032 Paralympics in Brisbane.
“No one’s ever done that in Australia,” Mr Mayhew said.
“The way [Ms Templeman] is lifting at the moment, if she competed in Paris, she would have come seventh.
“To be suitable to lift at the [Paralympics], there’s a whole bunch of criteria.
“There isn’t a strength criteria as such, it’s more about if you fit the right image for somebody that you want to go to the [Paralympics] and represent the country, and I think Krissie’s ideal.”
The prospect of the Paralympics is “amazing” for Ms Templeman, who says powerlifting has been “life-changing” since she found it last year.
“My strength is so much better… I’m walking a bit more now too, which is good,” she said.
Ms Templeman will compete at the Deadliest Deadlift and Bench Press Competition on December 7 outside Cicerello’s.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER