How kayak capsize led to powerlifting championship

A powerlifter who realised his talent while recovering from a capsizing incident is set to represent his country at the upcoming Commonwealth Championships.

Chris Pryor, 42, from Gloucester, won gold at the All England Masters Powerlifting competition in May, making him the English champion in his age and weight class.

This led to the civil engineer being selected to compete for England at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Winnipeg, Canada, in September.

Pryor said his journey began after capsizing a kayak in 2018 and tearing a tendon in his knee. Rehabilitation to regain his strength revealed he "excelled" at the sport.

"During the tedious months of physiotherapy that followed, a switch flipped," he said.

"If recovery was going to be this hard, I didn't just want to get back to fitness. I wanted to get strong.

"I walked into a gym powerlifting class at 35, decades later than most lifters."

Six competitions and one title later, Pryor currently holds a personal best of 270kg (595lbs) in deadlift, 250kg in squat (551lbs), and 180kg (396lbs) in bench press.

Powerlifting consists of three maximum-effort lifts in the squat, bench press, and deadlift events. Each type of lift requires three attempts.

The most successful lifts for each athlete are added together for a total score, which determines rankings within weight and age categories.

At the global competition on 17-27 September, Pryor said he hopes to beat his personal bests and "place as highly as I can to help my country".

"I would never in a million years have expected to be where I'm at right now when I started those barbell classes," he said.

"It was purely a way to get a little bit stronger and keep track of the strength. It still hasn't sunk in."

Though Pryor has dabbled in various sports throughout the years - including rugby, lacrosse, tennis, squash, and rock climbing - none have stuck quite like powerlifting.

"This is the one I seem to have excelled at, and dedicated more time and effort into training," he said.

"A couple of people have said they've been inspired by me to take up powerlifting and get stronger, realising there's no limit to when you can start."

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