Written by Conswella Bennett
Susan DePasquale competed in her second powerlifting meet as a Masters III lifter at the USPA North American Championships on August 4th. The competition came almost two months after Susan’s first competition, the USPA Georgia State meet held during Memorial Day weekend.
At both events, Susan came away the Masters first place winner, medaled in the open division in her weight class and set four state records. All this at the young age of 59 and now 60 years old.
Susan is presented with the medal for
Best Masters Lifter by Steve Goggins.
Prior to Susan competing at her first powerlifting meet there were no state records held by any women in the 55-59 age category in the Georgia USPA. Jokingly, Susan said, “All I had to do is just show up.” However, that wasn’t an option for Susan. “I wanted to earn it the right way. I worked hard to get ready, and I took it seriously,” she proudly added.
That State meet was all it took, and she was hooked. Susan couldn’t wait to step onto the platform again. “I get a kick out of doing something a lot of people don’t do,” she said of competing.
This time, she would have to compete without her coach, Lis Saunders, and that’s where I come in. I’m one of the original members of the Team Lis Smash powerlifting family and have competed in four USAPL powerlifting meets. When Lis realized she would be coaching and vacationing abroad at the same time of the Championship she asked me if I’d step in to handle Susan at the meet.
Of course you can’t say ‘No’ to Lis, so I agreed. But, I must admit I had moments of nervousness about being able to do the task. A weekend before the meet, Susan and I met for a workout session. Everything looked good. She had a squat PR of 125lbs, (surprising herself), but her deadlifts were a struggle. Disappointed because she had been able to pull the 145lb with no trouble during previous training sessions, but on this hot Saturday morning in the garage the bar wasn’t moving. I could tell she was disappointed. So, I thought to myself, “What would Lis say?” We lowered the weight did some reps and ended on a good note. I reassured her that at times one or two lifts may seem to disappoint us, but we can’t dwell on it.
But, I knew if she was anything like me she would be analyzing and thinking about what went wrong with the lift. Later that Saturday, she texted me still expressing her disappointment because as she said, she should have been able to pull 175lbs. My response was don’t let it get you down, and I reminded her of the positives of the day’s workout. Although the deadlift may have been off that day I encouraged her to not let it cause her to doubt her ability to pull heavy in competition Saturday.
At the Championships, the deadlifts were no problem at all! For Susan’s third and final deadlift attempt, she pulled 181 lbs. Unfortunately, there’s no picture of our celebratory high five. That PR deadlift was a great way to end the meet. Susan went 2 of 3 in squat. She squatted 121 lbs (her bodyweight). She also was 2 of 3 in bench. She benched 82.6 lbs and she went 3 of 3 in deadlifts.
Despite the two missed lifts, Susan said she remained focused and tried not to think about it. “I had too much invested to let it get me down. I’d done OK, and it was a challenge. If I hadn’t challenged myself enough to fail then I feel I really haven’t challenged myself,” she added.
All smiles and still running on the adrenaline rush of that final 181 lbs deadlift pull, Susan said, “I feel good. I improved some, and I learned what I can do better next time. I’m excited to come back and set new records!”
As she waiting for the other lifters to finish – often cheering them, she thought of the first powerlifting meet she attended in January. She came across the Atlanta Winter Smash after doing a Google search to find out what was out there for women interested in powerlifting.
At that winter meet, she met Bianca Weck-White, a lifter in her age category, who was competing that day. Susan asked Bianca if she thought she could do it, and Bianca quickly told her not only could she do it, but that she had to do it!
Sway and Bianca at
the Winter Smash
That was all the motivation Susan needed to pursue her dream. At that same meet she was introduced to Lis, who was the meet director. Shortly thereafter, she began training with Lis during Sunday Atlanta Women’s Barbell Club sessions and following a lifting program.
Those sessions prepped Susan for her first competition.
Now, when the USPA state record holder is working out at her local gym and women her age come up to talk to her about her lifting she finds herself encouraging them to try lifting weights and think about competing. After all, you’re never too old to lift or to compete.
“I like the feeling of being strong. It makes me confident, and it feels good to be strong,” Susan said with an assuring smile.
