Local weightlifters snatching wins, eyeing world championships

Michelle Pearson of Echo Bay and Trish Barber of Sault Ste. Marie are two women who believe in carrying their weight.

In fact, the two have won medals in recent weightlifting competitions and want to win more.

Pearson, 50, won a gold medal in her age category at the Ontario Weightlifting Association 2023 Ontario Masters Provincial Championships in St. Thomas in April. 

Barber, 57, has won a bronze and several golds, most recently at the Nationals earlier in July in Midland.

Pearson’s gold medal at the Provincials came only a short time after she took up weightlifting as a sport.

After her first experience with weights and barbells at the Sault’s Catalyst Fitness in 2017 she was inspired by Barber, a personal friend, to get into weightlifting professionally. 

“Trish had it as one of the bucket list things to do in her life to compete as a Masters athlete in Olympic weightlifting so she went to North Bay for a competition in October and she totally inspired me to take it up for myself. I jumped on her bandwagon,” Pearson told SooToday.

Both Pearson and Barber have had the same coach — Joanne Jeffrey of Midland, Ontario — guide them in virtual and personal training sessions.

“We went down there a couple of times for some in-person training but I also had a gym in my garage. I would record sessions and send them to Joanne, she critiqued them and told me where to make improvements and changes,” Pearson said.

She qualified for the Provincials at an event in Midland in February.

“It’s very much an individual sport, so it’s always myself versus myself. I look at other people’s scores but it’s about what I can do, not what I can do versus them,” Pearson said.

The athlete said her performance at the Provincials was gratifying for her as she did well in the snatch movement and the clean jerk.

The snatch lift involves lifting a barbell from the floor and bringing the bar over the head in one swift movement. It demands strength, skill and speed. It is one of the hardest movements to master.

The clean and jerk movement involves lifting the barbell to the shoulders then jerking it overhead. Like the snatch, it too is a difficult move.

“They weren’t moves that I excelled at,” Pearson said.

“It’s like I had to learn to lift all over again. Even though I thought I was an okay lifter I really wasn’t,” she laughed.

Pearson trains three times a week with Barber for a total of about nine hours.

After winning a gold at the Provincials in April, Pearson competed at the Nationals July 15 in Midland.

She snatched 40 kilograms (88 pounds) and clean and jerked 52 kilograms (115 pounds) at the Nationals.

“I didn’t qualify for the worlds but I’ve set a goal to qualify for the Worlds in Finland in 2024,” Pearson said.

“I wish more women would lift. Some women are intimidated by the sport. If you go into any commercial gym and you look at the weight room, who’s in there? Primarily men. Women can lift just as much, if not more, than men. I’m a huge advocate for empowering women ”

“I feel so much more confident. I’ve never really struggled with confidence but in weightlifting, if you can lift something really heavy, it’s like ‘yeah, I did that!’ Everyone should have that feeling. It makes me feel strong mentally as well as physically,” Pearson said.

Barber, the woman who has served as Pearson’s inspiration, said “I’ve been training for a year and a half for competition but I’ve been going to Catalyst Gym for 15 years. They do a lot of Olympic lifting and I found that I really enjoyed it. I had wanted to compete for about four or five years.”

Once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted she was referred to Midland coach Joanne Jeffrey.

Like Pearson, Barber said “I started training with Joanne, doing it virtually.”

She said that she told Pearson “once you see me compete you're going to want to do it too and sure enough she did.”

“I enjoyed doing weightlifting when I started going to the gym and I’m a competitive person. I play hockey as well as a goalie and I just enjoy competition. I’m good at lifting. I like competing and pushing myself and with Olympic lifting I’m just competing against myself and get better as I go along.”

Barber snatched 45 kilograms (100 pounds) and clean and jerked 65 kilograms (143 pounds) to win gold at the Nationals

“It does feel really good, and knowing that I can still do this kind of stuff at my age. Not that I feel old. I still feel like I’m 30 years old,” she laughed.

Weightlifting differs from powerlifting in that weightlifting involves two lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk. Powerlifters perform three lifts, including the back squat, bench press and deadlift.

“I would recommend weightlifting,” Barber said.

“As we get older we start to lose our strength, our body mass and bone mass and lifting heavy weights actually slows that process down. I find that lifting heavy weights gives you extra strength just for doing things around the house or doing other sports.”

Barber and Pearson will not be competing in this year’s Worlds in Krakow, Poland, in August.

But the two will be taking part in qualifiers to compete at the 2024 Worlds in Rovaniemi, Finland in Sept. 2024.  

“Definitely. That’s our next goal,” Barber said.