P.E.I. kettlebell competitor to represent Canada at international event

A P.E.I. woman will be competing forTeam Canada for the first timeat the internationalKettlebellSport competition in Spain after qualifying Saturday.

And to qualify, Susan Walsh did more than 700 liftswith a 12 kilogramkettlebellover the course of an hour.

"I'm just thrilled to be there. I never thought at my age I'd ever get a chance to represent my country," she said.

KettlebellSport is a lifting competition where competitors must lift one or two kettlebells as many times as possible in a set amount of time using different lifts jerk lift, snatch and long cycle or a combination of them all.

"Right now I'm competing in a one arm long cycle," Walsh said, explaining she uses one kettlebell with multiple hand changesbecause of the extended time.

Competitors are also not allowed to put down thekettlebellat any point during the hour.

Marathon lift was 'new territory'

Saturdaywas Walsh's first time doing an hour-long liftingmarathon as she had only competed in 30-minute competitions in the past.

"This past weekend was new territory for me so I wasn't really sure," she said. "I knew I needed to get 650 to qualify for the team."

But Walsh said when the buzzer goes off to start the clock, she couldn't look at the big picture of how many lifts she needed to make.

"You really just have to break it down minute by minute looking at so many reps for that minute and sometimes it's just one rep at a time.

"Looking at the big picture can do some head games on you. So just sort of really staying really focused in the moment, and just working on that minute by minute, and one rep at a time basically."

'If the kettlebell leaves your hand, you're done'

Walsh credits the work she put into her training and her coaches for being able to qualify for Team Canada.

She is oneof three people from Atlantic Canada who have qualified so far. Theother two qualifiers are from New Brunswick.

During competition, judges are watching how the competitors are lifting, ensuring they are following proper form to qualify. An electronic counter counts the reps but Walsh says she keeps track herself.

"If the kettlebell leavesyour hand, you aredone. And in marathon if you happen to either lose the kettlebellor put the kettlebelldown before the time is up, you get zero," she said.

"I could have gone 59 minutes and 55 seconds and had something happened all those 708 repetitionswould have been gone."

Walsh said she worked to set a pace per minute and, with the help of her assistant, was able to stay on pace for the hour.

"In the last 20 minutes I went from a 12 rep per minute to an 11 rep per minute. But then the last two minutes I sprinted and picked it up to 13," she said.

Team Canada will compete in Spain in November.

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