Aishalton girl aims to be int’l powerlifting champion
Doing ‘burpees’ at the Crossfit competition
Doing ‘burpees’ at the Crossfit competition

By Vishani Ragobeer
Entering the powerlifting platform just in March 2015 and trying her luck in the Crossfit

Tineisha Toney takes a break for a photo at her gym this week
Tineisha Toney takes a break for a photo at her gym this week

Games just this past Sunday, Tineisha Toney, a 16-year-old CAPE student, is aiming to be a world powerlifting champion one day.

Born on December 19, 1999, she is the second child of five siblings.

She attended the Aishalton Primary School in Region Nine where she then earned herself a position at St. Stanislaus College in Georgetown. She wrote 11 subjects at the CSEC examinations this year and achieved nine grade ones, one grade two and one grade three.

It was never her intention to start either powerlifting or taking part in the Crossfit Games. However, she joked with her mother, Jacquelyn that they were both gaining some weight and decided to try out the gym. They joined the Life Gym at LBI on the East, where Billy Mack, their trainer and father of famous young powerlifter Britny Mack, encouraged the young Toney to try out powerlifting.

“It was really easy,” Tineisha declared. “I went to gym five days a week.” Despite this, she said it wasn’t that much of a challenge juggling her academics and powerlifting. Attending Queen’s College now, she is writing five subjects at the CAPE level and is still engaging in her five-day gym regime.

She explained that powerlifting encompasses three different exercises- the squat, bench press and the deadlift. Her personal powerlifting record includes 137.4 kg in the deadlift and 111.1kg in the squat. She mused that the bench press is the most challenging for her because she has “a weak chest”.

Tineisha Toney during training this week
Tineisha Toney during training this week

For the year and few months that she has been powerlifting however, she participated in four national powerlifting competitions and gained two second positions and then two first positions.

During her most recent competition- the inaugural Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Association “Barbell Wars”, she said she was the “champ” for the female category.

After beasting out in powerlifting, she decided that she would attempt the Crossfit Games, which required endurance rather than the raw strength required for powerlifting.

“It just seemed fun,” she said.

Toney noted that her specified training for the Crossfit Games began two weeks prior to the competition, which was held last Sunday.

At this, her first Crossfit competition, she surprised herself by copping second place.

Addressing the issue of the gender stereotypes plaguing both powerlifting and the Ccrossfit games, she stated: “Girls can do anything they want.” Powerlifting is something that Toney loves and she disclosed that not only is she trying to break these gender-based stereotypes, but she is working towards becoming a World Powerlifting Champion one day.

Currently, she has returned to powerlifting training where she is prepping for her next competition which will be on the 27th of this month.

Tineisha underscored that that transition from endurance training for Crossfit to the strength training presented some difficulty, but she knows perseverance is the key.

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