Jaradites Rugby Sports Club

23.11.1999: Solomon Powers his Way on to World Scene
By: GILL Mary Anne

If you'd told Daniel Solomon this time last year that he would be travelling to Finland for the world bench press championships in December 1999, the Hamilton-based powerlifter would have thought you were crazy.

Since he gave up rugby league because of an injury 12 months ago, Solomon's rise to the top has been staggering.

Earlier this month he smashed the national record at the New Zealand bench press championships in Timaru.

Competing in the 125kg senior men's class, Solomon lifted the record to 250.5kg.

The 30-year-old Work and Income NZ worker qualified for the world championships in Helsinki as a result and will leave early next month with his wife Debbie.

Ashburton's Tania Green, also in the sport for little over a year, is the only other Kiwi travelling to Finland.

Solomon started powerlifting when he injured his left knee playing for Waikato rugby league team the Jaradites.

Les Mills head trainer John Gillett could see that Solomon had the right physique for powerlifting and steered him towards the sport. Since then he has broken four national records.

Solomon, bom and bred in the tiny East Coast settlement ofWhakaki, is humble about his success.

He said his will to succeed came from his children, Asteena, 8, and Daniel, 6.

"They're the motivating factor behind me doing this. I love youth and I love working with children, they motivate me to do it.

"I know there's a lot of youth out there who have physical talents. I'm trying to be some sort of role model to them."

Solomon weighs 122kg and is 1.78m tall.

He spends six hours a week training for the three powerlifting disciplines, squat, benchpress and deadlift.

He has lifted 320kg in the squat and 300kg in the deadlift. Benchpress remains his favourite, though. He competes in the 110-125kg weight category.

Solomon had to raise $8500 to travel to Finland. He got support from Avalon Auto Spares, Debt Recovery Co (Auckland) and CEN Sports Supplements.

Some 156 competitors will attend the world championships from December 9-14. Solomon will lift against 17 others.

CAPTION:

POWER LIFT: Daniel Solomon training in Hamilton for the world bench press championships. PICTURE: Andrew Gome