Harrogate’s Charlotte McGuinness has her sight set on the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

The 22-year-old powerlifter has competed in World Cups and European Championships since taking up the sport as a teenager.

Powerlifting has taken her to Georgia and the United States to compete in major tournaments.

But, for Charlotte, the ultimate goal is to bench press on the world stage at the Paralympics.

Picking up the weights

Charlotte initially started out as a swimmer.

When she turned 16, she realised that being a swimmer was “probably out of reach for myself” and turned her attention to powerlifting.

She picked up a set of weights while still studying at St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate.

From there, she was enrolled onto a talent pathway which included training at Loughborough University – which she still does today.

She was set on a development programme in June 2019 which tracked her powerlifting progress.

From there, her career trajectory began to climb.

She competed in the Para Powerlifting World Cup in Manchester in 2020 just before the coronavirus pandemic.

“I was still swimming at the time. I was trying to balance both and then covid hit.

“It forced me to quit swimming and it was a blessing in a sense. It made me focus on my lifting and that made me progress.”

Charlotte McGuinness pictured competing in the World Cup.

Covid forced her to set up a gym at home, where she followed her development programme.

Nowadays, she mixes it up and uses local gyms as well as her bench press training at home.

She returned to Manchester in March 2021 to compete in the Para Powerlifting World Cup.

This time, she won bronze in the women’s up to 50kg category with a bench press of 74kg.

A year later, she competed in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in a World Para Powerlifting event.

The championships was her first away on her own for a lengthy period of time.

“I was nervous because I had never been away for that length of time to a different country.

“It was covid as well, so we were very restricted. We were only meant to stay in the hotel for 10 days.”

However, despite the restrictions of the pandemic, the competition is one she fondly remembers.

“Something that I will always remember is coming back from the juniors. The competition was taking place in another hotel.

“We were staying in a different hotel and I came back from the juniors after winning a medal and my teammates were at the top of the stairs up to reception and they were clapping. I will always remember that one.”

“I really thought sport was all physical. But it’s really not.”

Charlotte then went on to compete in senior competitions, including a World Cup in the United States.

Despite the upward trajectory, not every competition has been smooth sailing.

Charlotte says her performance in the European Championships in October 2022 was a particular low point when she didn’t manage to make the lift that she wanted.

“I didn’t walk away there happy. I used it as a learning tool.

“You train however many hours a week and however many times on a bench and sometimes it will not go to plan. Your body and muscles may not do what you want them to do and that was one of those days.

“I learned a lot from that. That competition will always be in the back of my mind.”

Read more: 

• The golfer championing Knaresborough on the world stage
• Knaresborough Town pair championing women’s football after remarkable season
• Harrogate Parkrun founder’s trek through ‘the toughest footrace on earth’

She says the toll of training can often have an impact on her mental health.

Charlotte has been working with a clinical psychologist to help keep her focussed heading into some major tournaments in the lead up to the Paralympics.

“For me, I really thought sport was all physical. But it’s really not, it’s mental as well.

“You’ve got to accept not getting a lift and you’ve got to accept that you’ll train all this time and not do as well as you want to.

“Especially after the Europeans, I struggled to come back. But I got there in the end with the help of the team.”

She returned to Georgia a year later to the same venue and lifted a personal best of 94kg.

Now, she is hoping to make it to Paris for the Paralympic Games in 2024.

Aiming for the Paralympics

To qualify, she needs to remain in the top eight of the British ranking going into the new year.

A crucial competition for her to remain there will be the World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, next month.

Charlotte McGuinness, pictured at a competition in Dubai.

For Charlotte, the goal is to get a 97kg lift on the board in order to retain her place in the top eight.

To keep her focussed on the task in hand, Charlotte’s coach has written down the names of the girls who are also competing for that top eight ranking.

Reaching the Paralympics would be a milestone for Charlotte, who only picked up a set of weights some four years ago.

For her, the opportunity is there for the taking.

“I know I’ve got the strength, I just need to execute the technique.

“Once I’ve done that, it will be on the board.”

If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured in Sporting Spotlight, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

A Harrogate gym has launched strength training sessions for women over 40 in an bid to “change the narrative” around menopause.

The sessions will be held at Eleven Eleven Sports Performance, which launched a studio on Otley Road in May.

The programme will focus on heavy lifting and increasing strength training to stimulate and build muscles to make up for the decline in the hormones estrogen and progesterone. It will also include sprint interval training, plyometrics and stabilising exercises.

Information will also be given on how to lead a healthier lifestyle to help lower cortisol levels, which is known as the stress hormone.

The sessions will be led by coaches Mark Nel and Kelly Loe, who moved to Harrogate from South Africa a year ago.

The couple co-own Eleven Eleven with Liz and Dean Kemp.

Empowering women

Ms Kemp said:

“Lifting weights is going to be good for anyone over the age of 40, but for women specifically because of the imbalances in hormones and the massive impact it has. Estrogen is a muscle-building hormone, so if that’s dropping you need to replace it.

“It’s trying to empower women to say you can do something about it. You can lift heavy and you will get the same effect and you will be able to build that lean muscle mass. This is even more important when you get older.

“It’s turning something negative into something positive. It’s about getting the narrative out there that you can pick up a barbell at any age if you are coached in the right way.”

The semi-private classes are limited to four participants to allow them develop their technique and lift safely.

They are being held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes from 12-1pm and 1pm-2pm.

Read more:

• Plans to set up temporary gym at Ripon Leisure Centre
• New group launches for Harrogate women with menopause

New skills

It is hoped that under the guidance of Mr Nel and Ms Loe, who are both skilled weightlifters, the sessions will encourage women to try something new and gain new skills.

Ms Kemp said:

“I turned 50 this year and I’m a control freak. I didn’t like the changes going on in my life without knowing how I could help and take back control. I think that was where it started from.

“You can’t control what your hormone levels are doing, but there are so many ways you can improve your health and body composition.

“I was training with Mark and Kelly and I realised what they were doing is what the over 40s need in their life to create a healthier and fitter lifestyle going forward.

“It’s about changing the conversation and mindset around it and focussing on the positive.

“It’s being in the right environment to be able to train safely and do what we need to do to replace what our hormones used to with nutrition, healthy living, sprint training and jumping and not being scared of doing it.”

Age is just a number

Mr Nel, who has 24 years experience in the fitness industry, said no matter what age you are, you should still be able to achieve the same ability as someone who is younger if you are taught correctly.

He said:

“You might not lift the same weight or speed, but you are not restricted to ‘you can’t do that because you are this age’. To me it doesn’t matter if you take the right approach. There are athletes doing it at 70.”

Mr Nel, who has a string of accolades under his belt in both CrossFit and weightlifting, added that programmes can be modified for individuals depending on their ability.

He said:

“If your ability is just a barbell, you have that option to go through. If you are someone who is a fit 67-year-old and you want a little bit more intensity that option is there as well.”

Foundations

There will be a focus on mastering three basic foundations of bench, squats and deadlifts before advancing further.

Ms Kemp said:

“The other thing that makes it unique is you are benchmarked. So you have your set standard and until you reach the next level you don’t progress. It allows you to understand what your weaknesses are and what you need to work on.”

Ms Loe, who has been coaching since 2015 and specialises in CrossFit, added:

“I think we have created an environment where we respect more of the technique side of it than lifting heavy. We cheer on the person who is coming last and trying the hardest, as opposed to the person coming first. We do not tolerate massive egos.”

Ms Kemp said there was so much information out there about menopause that it could be overwhelming.

She added:

“That’s what we want to strip back to the bare functions of what you can do to take control and turn the difficult transition into something positive.”

A 19-year-old from Harrogate has won a bronze medal for Team GB at the Para Powerlifting World Cup.

Charlotte McGuiness was third in the women’s up to 50kg category with a bench press of 74kg.

The sports and exercise student’s performance has increased her chances of competing in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.

Charlotte, who studies at Leeds Trinity University, said her passion for the sport began while studying at St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate.

The event took place at the Wythenshawe Forum in Manchester without spectators and with covid measures in place over the weekend.

There were five competitors in the event. Besides Charlotte, there were lifters from Britain, Spain, Ukraine and Japan.

Charlotte on the podium after receiving her bronze medal.

Charlotte trains four times a week, focusing on university work in the mornings. Due to lockdown she has had to setup a gym in her Harrogate home but continues to her sights high.

Charlotte now has her sights set on the World Powerlifting Championships in November.

She said:

“I was shocked when I won my medal, I only started two years ago and I’ve gone so far. It’s motivated me to keep going. The Paris Olympics are in three years time and that would be a dream,”

Read more:

• The first female referee to take charge of an EFL match will officiate at Harrogate Town on Easter Monday.
• Hopes to reopen Ripon Spa Baths for April 12.

Sarah Todd, sports development manager at Leeds Trinity University, said:

“I could not be prouder of Charlotte, to achieve a bronze medal at the World Cup at 19-years-old is incredible.

“She works so hard and is such a determined and focused young woman in her sport and her studies, so it is fantastic to see the hard work pay off with a medal.”