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32nd FESUPO/16th NAPF & FESUPO Pan American C/ships …Manager Andrea Smith confident Guyana will represent well
By Franklin Wilson in Orlando,USA compliments of Crown Mining Supplies, Fitness Express, Secure Innovations & Concepts, Industrial Safety Supplies, Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club.
Team Manager of the Guyana team to the 16th North American Powerlifting Federation (NAPF) and 32nd South American Powerlifting Federation (FESUPO) Championships lifting off at the Hyatt Regency Orlando 
International Airport, Andrea Smith, is exuding confidence that her charges are primed to excel.
Sanctioned by the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF), this year’s championships will see athletes from Canada, USA, Mexico, Columbia, Uruguay, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, United States Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and Guatemala contesting.
Competition will get underway from 07:00hrs today and four of Guyana’s lifters will take center stage, Romario Gonsalves (59kg), Demetri Chan (74kg), Tineisha Toney (57kg) and Britny Mack (47kg) will be in contention.
Smith informed that on a scale from 1-10, Guyana’s chances are as good as 7 to 8 at medaling. “Given the breakdown from the final nominations that I’ve observed everybody stands a fighting chance within their category.
Part of the Guyana contingent after they arrived in Miami on Sunday afternoon.
The most anyone will be going up against I think is six lifters in their category so there is a lot of areas for persons to work given their starting weights, given what I know they’ve done before, we have a very strong chance of medaling.”
Despite a long and tiring trip to Orlando which saw the athletes travelling by air to Miami via Trinidad and then by bus to their final destination, which took over four (4) hours, Smith informed that the athletes are all in high spirits including the first timers.
”This didn’t daunt their spirits and I am happy to see them interacting with each other. This year’s team is very special because we have a balance in terms of the old and new members and the way everybody is positioned they can learn from an experienced lifter and that’s working for the team.”
Smith, who will also be competing, shared that the training cycles for each athlete over the past weeks, was productive and the athletes are healthy, rearing and ready to go barring a few muscle strains.
”The newer ones are excited, the more seasoned ones are focused on improving in areas they hadn’t done in the past.”
At last year’s championships held in the USVI, Guyana only had three athletes but there is an encouraging increase of athletes this year; Smith is crediting this among other things, to consistent performances by the athletes during 2016 and this year.
”And their patience too because of course, because some of them are rank novices who have come through the system, intermediates and seniors, coupled with the fact that we have not lost them to other sports. I will give credit to the athletes in that area.”
The GAPF Secretary also stressed that the federation would have also played a major role in keeping the sport growing on a consistent basis as they have tried to up their game in a number of areas including fund raising activities and engaging the athletes more consistently.
”Since last year we would have really doll out on giving information to the athletes, rules of the IPF, giving them information on records so they know where they stand, not only locally but regionally and further afield.”
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