Trish turns on power
POWERLIFTER Trish Williams has set some lofty goals for herself ahead of a trip overseas to represent Australia on the world stage.
Ms Williams, a Townsville City Council administration officer, was born with spina bifida, a condition that occurs when the spine or spinal cord don’t form properly.
A lifelong wheelchair user, Ms Williams moved to Townsville at an early age due to the barriers around her in day-to-day life. “I was born in Ravenshoe, it’s a very small, country town. I moved about ‘79, because I couldn’t handle all the stairs at the school. In those days it was all different,” Ms Williams said. While an initial foray into wheelchair sports proved frustrating, Ms Williams admits that in hindsight she should have “stuck with it”.
“Now, I just want to do it for as long as I can, my coach is always joking with me that I might end up being the oldest Olympian,” Ms Williams said.
“If I’d kept going with wheelchair racing or some of the track events that were available in my 20s, I don’t know where I’d be.
“I had a bad first experience but 30 years or so is long enough to hold a grudge.” Instead, she picked up powerlifting in 2017 after using the weightlifting regimens to rehab a shoulder injury. “If you asked me five years ago, if I was going to be doing something like this, I’d have said no way, it’s so surreal,” Ms Williams said.
“I was picked to go overseas last year and I couldn’t due to Covid and other things that came into play, but to get that phone call telling me I’d been picked, was unbelievable.”
Training out of Heavy Metals Strength and Powerlifting Club for the past five years, Ms Williams has now earned selection in the Australian side again for the Pyeongtaek 2022 World Para Powerlifting Asia Oceania Open Championships alongside four other para-athletes.
She’s hopeful a good performance will pave the way for further opportunities, with eyes on qualifying for the Australian team that will compete in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and then the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
While her regular coach Favian Arcidiacono won’t make the trip, Ms Williams is training the house down, spending at least six days a week preparing for the event. If you’d like to support her journey to Korea, you can donate via her Gofundme page.