Kerryn pursues strength beyond weightlifting
BELL Post Hill strongwoman Kerryn Siems will return to South Africa, her country of birth, to represent Australia at the Arnold Pro Strongman Africa event next month.
The 29-year-old, who boasts the yoke and dead lift records in the under-72.5kg women category, is aiming to win the event, which is part of the world series that arrived in Australia last month.
Siems finished fourth in that field, “the biggest field of the girls to date,” she said, which ranks her in the top 5 per cent of girls in Australia.
“I competed at the Arnold Strongman in Australia; that was last year and I placed second,” she said.
“That qualified me to be able to go to South Africa.
“Over the last three years I’ve continued growing and getting the numbers up there.”
Siems runs her own all-female personal training business out of Strong Geelong, but also aspires to teach others about the sport of strongwoman.
“I do have some clients that come to me that want to build up their strength,” she said.
“I’ve got some plans to run some strongwoman workshops as well and teach the lifts in a group setting.
“I’ve always been interested in weightlifting.
“I was asked about doing some powerlifting competitions but I couldn’t tee it up to get to one of them. The comp that I could make was a strongwoman comp and I thought, ‘I’ll just give it a go’. That was the first time I qualified for the Arnolds, that was in 2016.
“I’ve just been going hard at it since then.”
For those who have never seen the strongwoman events, it’s quite different to the weightlifting events at the Commonwealth Games.
“It’s just lifting heavy, awkward objects or implements — stones and we do a log clean and press, a lot of overhead stuff,” she said.
“We do the yoke, so lots of carries. I’ve done a 250kg yoke carry, that’s with a big frame on your back that you walk with. As awkward as you can make it, that’s the strongman.
“I actually hold the record in the under-72.5kg women for the yoke.
“I also currently hold the dead lift record for 162kg dead lift; I’ve lifted more since then but not in competition.”
Following next month’s event in South Africa, Siems will turn her attention to Victoria’s Strongest Woman in November, in which she has placed twice.
Bell Post Hill powerhouse Kerryn Siems has done all the heavy lifting and now she will represent Australia in South Africa at the Arnold Strongwoman Series next month.