Raising the bar
Valley woman establishes new Canadian masters records
There was a time when Heather Dyke felt insecure about her body. Today, that’s no longer a concern.
As a national champion Olympic weightlifter, the 33-year-old from Valley is comfortable and confident in her own skin.
“Growing up, as many women do, I struggled with body image, and to see more of what your body can do kind of takes over and you’re like, ‘I don’t even care what’s going on; watch what I can do,”’ said Dyke.
As a member of Crossfit Hubtown, Dyke began Olympic weightlifting two years ago under the guidance of coach Amanda Thompson. She developed a passion for it and quickly became involved in the competitive side of the sport.
She attended her first competition in March 2016, and recently took her talents to another level while representing Nova Scotia at the Canadian masters championship in Gaspé, Que., where she established new national records while nabbing gold in the 69kg class for athletes between the ages of 30 and 34.
“My mind was blown,” said Dyke, who trains out of the Hubtown Weightlifting Club, which is part of Crossfit Hubtown. “We worked so hard; Amanda set me up for success in the moment on the platform. I set my goal and did everything to achieve it.”
Dyke set new Canadian masters records in the snatch ( 71kg), clean and jerk ( 93kg)
and total (164kg).
“It was a good day, it was positive thoughts, I was moving very well, and when your body’s happy you can do great things, with a positive attitude too, so it was really good,” said Dyke, who closed out the event on the final day of competition with a record-
breaking lift.
Thompson, also co-owner of Crossfit Hubtown, wasn’t surprised by Dyke’s accomplishments. She said her student has all the attributes to achieve great success in weightlifting, including strength, explosive power and work ethic.
“For Heather it was more about trying to help her see that she was capable of doing it and sort of giving her that vision to work towards, so it’s really nice to see that manifest the way it did in Gaspé,” said Thompson.
“I was excited to see her realize her potential. She did everything leading up to the competition that she should have and she just really showed up on game day in the zone and ready to go. So I knew as soon as we started warming up that she was going to have success.”
Dyke, an infection control practitioner at the Truro hospital, said she received a boost from fellow competitors and friends in attendance when it was her time to lift.
“There’s nothing like walking out on that platform and having your fellow athletes cheer you on,” she said. “We come from a community here at the gym and it’s so close that you can pick out their voices; you know when they’re cheering for you. I received messages and love from everybody here who couldn’t make the trip to Gaspe and there was so much support and it just means so much.”
Three other members of the Hubtown club achieved success at the national and international levels in Gaspé. In the men’s division, Chris Hubbard won the Canadian title in the 85kg class and Panam silver, while Duane Webber nailed down national and Panam gold I the 94kg class. On the women’s side, Heather Wolfe also nabbed both national and Panam gold women’s class.