Powerlifting becomes family affair Mother-daughter combos show off skills during state championships

BREWER – The family that lifts together stays together… Well, at least that’s the way it is in the Campbell family.

Karen Campbell and daughter Tiffany were just two of several lifters who left the Brewer Auditorium with medals after the conclusion of the Maine Games Powerlifting State Championships.

In a sport where female competitors are probably still more the exception than the rule, having a mother-daughter combo is downright rare. With that in mind, this weekend’s second annual Maine Games meet was entering Guinness World Book of Records territory as the Campbells were one of two mother-daughter duos competing. Benita Deschaine of Bangor and Rebecca Deschaine were the other. It seems it’s not just a “man thing” anymore.

“Definitely. The first meet I did was May in 2004 and there were two other women at it. Now there’s more than a handful,” Karen Campbell said shortly after bench-pressing a personal competition-best 358 pounds.

“There aren’t a lot of girls my age doing it, but I think there are more women doing it,” said Tiffany, who benched 148.7 pounds – about 17 less than her previous best.

The Campbells and Deschaines were four of 10 women and 80 lifters overall competing Saturday and Sunday.

The 2006 event has expanded noticeably in just a year as it has gone from a one- to a two-day event and attracted about 30 more competitors.

“A lot of this was from word of mouth from people who did it last year and were really impressed with how it was run. They really enjoyed themselves,” said Jeff Scully, executive director of Maine Games, the primary sponsor and organizer of the championships.

Ginny Brockway of Waterville and Steve Beaupre of Biddeford no doubt enjoyed themselves as they were named outstanding female and male powerlifters of the meet on Sunday.

Brockway had never done a competitive meet before, but saw her four months of training pay off as she squatted 275 pounds, benched 143, and dead lifted 270 for a total of 688 pounds. Not bad for a 123-pound woman.

“I started lifting a year or two ago to get in shape and always wanted to do something like this,” said the 29-year-old paramedic. “I just love to lift and workout. I like pushing myself. I’d like to do these a lot more often now.”

The 32-year-old Beaupre has done more than a few of these. In fact, his last competition was just four months ago.

“I’ve been lifting steady since I was 10, but I started solid and doing stuff like this eight years ago, the same time I met my wife,” said Beaupre, who works for a family propane/fuel business. “I might have pushed this one a little too soon after that last one, but my bench was much better. I’m going to back off for awhile, at least through the summer I think.”

Beaupre doesn’t look like a powerlifter, given the one-time aspiring Olympian’s 157-pound frame, but his numbers are sizable: 575-pound squat, 413 bench, 529 deadlift and 1,515 total.

It’s easy to see why the weekend meet has become so popular so quickly when you see experienced guys like Beaupre and rookies like Kyle Johnson of Bradley walking out with medals.

“I’ve been doing this, off and on, since I was 17, but never did a competition until now,” said Johnson, a 26-year-old electrician who was encouraged to compete by fellow lifters at Union Street Athletics. “I don’t really do a lot of other sports. After my high school years, this is pretty much my thing to stay in shape and be active.”

Johnson, who took a first place in the men’s open bench competition with a bench of 407 pounds, said he was also encouraged to take the plunge by his older sister Kim, who used to lift competitively.

It was family inspiration and urging that got the Campbells going as well.

“I told my son [Dustin] and daughter if they wanted to compete, I would compete with them and they decided they wanted to,” recalled Karen Campbell, who was urged to compete by her trainer. “I just wanted someone to do it with.”

Older brother Dustin was the catalyst for Tiffany as well.

“I just wanted to try it because my brother thought it was cool, but I liked it right from the start,” said the 16-year-old Bangor Christian sophomore, who has been competing for 21/2 years. “I think my favorite part is pushing myself to the limit. I haven’t yet, but I like trying to get myself to do as much as I can.”

Tiffany’s mother has been training competitively for 10 years and usually does four competitions a year. Despite getting involved relatively late in life, Karen Campbell feels the timing is right for her.

“I’m not sure I would have worked as hard at it before as I am now, so I guess I got into it at the right time,” said the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. “I like the sense of feeling strong and the physical activity. It probably took me 20 minutes to come down from the high of that last lift I had.”

The whole event was made possible by the Maine Games organization and 25-30 Union Street Athletics volunteers.

“This event is the first of 14 sports we’re doing this year, including lesser known sports like flag football and baton twirling,” said Scully. “We really do well with sports that aren’t those headline type sports like this because the people who do these sports are so enthused.”