Despite getting buried under the weights at his first competition, Anthony Singeris, a lifelong athlete, went on to be elected as president of Ravens Powerlifting in 2015, and is currently training for the national powerlifting championship.
The national event, taking place in Quebec this March, brings together the best powerlifters in the country. Hoping to qualify for the world championship at the meet, Singeris goes through a three-hour long training session, four days a week.
Singeris, who discovered his passion for powerlifting in his second year at Carleton University,
doesn’t remember a time in his life where he wasn’t playing sports. From football to swimming, he has always been a team player. So when his friends started powerlifting, he thought he would try it out.
“My first exposure was in my second or third year in university,” says Singeris, who attended Carleton from 2012-2016. “My buddies got into it, and I took it as a personal challenge because I’m a pretty competitive person. I just stuck to it after that.”
Singeris says his first powerlifting competition was the the worst experience of his life. A nervous wreck, he panicked under the pressure.
“I forgot how to squat. I went and took the weight, I took the weight and I forgot how to come back up,” says Singeris. “I was buried under the weight and it was extremely embarrassing.”
“After that, my buddy shook me around and said, ‘C’mon, get out of your head and go hit the weight.’ So next attempt I got, I hit it and it went well after that.”
However, Singeris didn’t let the adversity from his first competition hinder his growth as a powerlifter. He was elected by his peers in Ravens Powerlifting to take on the role of president. In that role, he would oversee the training of the team members, as well as determine who would make the powerlifting team.
Jackson Spencer, another power lifter at Carleton University, says that Singeris brings a good atmosphere into the gym, having a good balance between fun and hard-work.
“Anthony loves to goof around in the gym,” says Spencer. “But when push comes to shove he always gets the work done… He’s earned every single pound of strength that he has.”
When asked about how he compares to other men in his weight class, Singeris says that while it depends on the level of the meet, he is normally ranked within the top three.
“If it’s a local meet, I’m usually ranked first or close to it,” says Singeris. “In provincial meets, I’ll usually place in the top three, and national meets, it’s hard to tell where I am.”
“There are so many guys that you think you stack up against. I can pretty much place anywhere, but definitely in the third ranking.”
The national championship will take place from March 12-18 in Saguenay, QC.