Hugh Harkins has been doing a lot of heavy lifting … and he loves every moment of it.
In September, the Year 12 student will represent Victoria in the Australian Powerlifting League (APL) national championships at the already sold-out Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The APL is one of the country’s biggest national federations dedicated to competitive heavy lifting.
Competitors get three lifting attempts across three specific barbell exercises: squat, bench press and deadlift.
Hugh’s path to powerlifting has been a pleasant surprise.
The 17-year-old said Joe Diamond – the head of our rugby league academy – had been a big influence early in secondary school after convincing Hugh to play rugby league.
“I was not the best but was just happy playing,” he said.
The experience fired his competitive instincts. Then, at 14, Hugh found lifting.
“I just messed around doing whatever for like a year, then I heard about powerlifting. I said, ‘I’ll give that a go.’ And you know what? I was good at it,” Hugh recalled.
“I’ve spent years grinding, just keeping my head down while everyone else slept on me. I have always trained five days a week, never missing a single session, fuelling my body right, and building a foundation out of pure discipline.”
His coach suggested he compete in the APL, and the results have flowed.
“I trained and I was really excited. After a long six months of training, I did my best and I won. I was so happy. I remember going home and saying to myself, ‘This is my calling.’
“My mindset from then was, ‘I want to be the best, and I will be the best one day.’
“I have competed many times since then, getting first and second place each time.”
Both the sport and his support network have been pivotal to Hugh’s development.
“This sport has made me a nicer and better person, and after all that hard work I have now got this invitation to compete with the best all around Australia. But this could not be done without my friends and family and the coach I have now.
“That’s where I’m at, but this is just the start of my journey.”
