San’j Dill and Brittany Denbrook claimed top honours in remarkable fashion at the National Powerlifting Championships.

Dill set two national and personal records at Beast Gym on the way to the men’s title, while association president Denbrook also established a PB in her successful bid for the women’s title.

Dill, who broke his own national records and personal marks in the squat (650lbs) and dead-lift (677lbs), is thrilled to have retained his crown in record-breaking fashion.

“It was definitely a successful day for me and one of my best performances on stage,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“Prepping for the squats I had in my mind that I’m going to be hitting my totals and I predicted 650lb.

“Everything was feeling just right. I had enough sleep that day and I knew that I had it in the bag for that day.

“I was a little unfortunate in my bench press as I did fall a little short but I told myself the battle wasn’t over and that we still had a dead-lift to finish and beat my own record.

“I ended up getting a personal best in dead-lift of 677lb and that total ended up pushing me as the overall winner. On my last attempt I went for 705lbs and I doubted myself.

“I didn’t think I could move it but with the crowd backing me I almost got it to the end. It was unfortunate that it slipped out of my hands but it was a win in my book.

“The crowd was ecstatic and I could not do it without them for sure. They definitely brought the energy out of me.”

Denbrook exceeded her expectations on her championship debut.

“I didn’t expect it but I am happy that I was able to execute on the day,” she said.

“It was really exciting and was also great because being the president sometimes you’re behind the scenes.

“It was awesome to be out in front and get to experience being on the platform, be out in front of everybody but also hope to encourage people to get out there too, and I just had so much fun.

“I missed a bench press PR but I did get a dead-lift PR of 308lb and it was grind there. That was the hardest lift I’ve done but I got it up and it was really exciting.”

Justus Anderson and Randy Burgess were second and third in the men’s event and Shalika Burrows and Karen Pearman occupied the same position in the women’s.

With victory in their respective divisions, Dill and Denbrook have secured qualification for the North American Powerlifting Federation Championships in Newfoundland this summer.

“I am very excited to compete overseas for Bermuda in powerlifting because that’s been my dream for years,” Dill said.

“When I first started we actually didn’t have an association but now we are officially sanctioned and are able to compete for our country in what we love.”

Denbrook is considering passing up the opportunity to compete in the upcoming championships.

“I haven’t decided if I am competing yet and more excited to travel with the team and to support everybody else that is going,” she said.

“I am just happy to be there and looking forward to wearing our Bermuda tracksuit, looking forward to the opening ceremony and just representing us.

“That’s the most important thing to me, us just being there in the first place, and we worked really hard to get there.”

Denbrook said a ranking system will be used to determine who will compete in her place should she decide not to.