Staff and students in GMIT’s School of Science & Computing are celebrating the remarkable achievements of lecturer Dr David Mac Hale who won four top titles in the 2018 100% Raw World Powerlifting Championships in the United States recently, after only taking up the competitive sport three years ago.
Teams from all over the world competed in the event including the US, Canada, Australia, China and India. The Irish team consisted of a ten strong ladies’ team, while the men’s team consisted of six athletes. David competed in six events for the men’s team, winning first place in the World Push/Pull event, second in the World Powerlifting and World Bench Press events, and third in World Deadlift.
Speaking about his experience, he says: “I started powerlifting three years ago after completing a mobility and rehabilitation course with my new coach Max Lauth. Max runs Maximum Results Gym in Parkmore, Galway and has overseen my progress, designing bespoke training programmes to suit my abilities. I am extremely grateful to Max for investing so much of his time and effort into helping me develop as a powerlifter.”
“I was privileged to be a small part of a brilliant, fun and talented bunch of athletes who flew the Irish flag with pride. The Irish team achieved fifth place in the competition overall, in the process breaking several world records.”
“I would like to thank my GMIT managers, Dr Lisa Ryan and Dr Seamus Lennon, for accommodating my request to represent my country. Special thanks to the Irish team, who were such a help and inspiration both on and off the platform and a big thanks, of course, to the Irish officials led by President Kevin Barry who did such a professional job running the platforms. Most importantly, a heartfelt thank you to my family for being so patient with me over the last few months. Lifting the Irish flag with my team mates and friends has been the greatest honour I have had the good fortune to experience. I am deeply humbled by the whole experience and I thank everyone involved for helping me to achieve this.”
Dr Mac Hale lectures in chemistry in the Science & Computing Department and has lectured on the Sport and Exercise Science course. Dr Lisa Ryan, Head of the GMIT Dept of Natural Sciences, and Dr Seamus Lennon, Acting Head of the School of Science & Computing, paid tribute to David for his outstanding achievements. “On behalf of the School of Science & Computing I congratulate David on his huge success. It is great to have his expertise in strength & conditioning which is a major part of the new Sport and Exercise Science degree here in GMIT”.
Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport. In competition, athletes compete individually on a platform and attempt to lift the maximum weight possible for a single repetition. The lift is judged by three referees to ensure that the lift is carried out in accordance with the rules. Athletes can perform in up to three competitive events; the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. A powerlifter has three attempts to lift the heaviest weight possible for each event. Only the heaviest successful lift is counted. At the end of the competition, the athlete’s best lift for each event is added together to give a final total. This total is called the “Full Power” event.
In addition, a second “Push-Pull” event, comprising the best lifts in bench press and deadlift may be added together. As well as these combined events lifters can compete in just a “Single Lift” event for squat, bench press and deadlift. In conjunction with weight classes, age groups and gender, the best lifts are used to determine the athlete’s placing in each competition.
For more information on programmes in the GMIT Dept of Natural Sciences, see:
https://www.gmit.ie/science/department-natural-sciences
Dr David Mac Hale, GMIT Science lecturer, who won first place in the World Push/Pull event in the 100% Raw Powerlifting Championships in the US recently, as part of the Irish team.
