Needless to say, 2020 has been a whirlwind of uncertainty.  From concern about what this new virus was and even where it was, to hard decisions about how or whether to keep our home businesses open, and of course how long the initial lock-down would ultimately last.  Kettlebell events in particular seemed untouchable at first, after all our sport doesn't require close interaction or contact between athletes.  However, one-by-one our beloved destination competitions met the chopping block - OKC Vancouver International, Crazy Monkey, Seattle WAKSC Worlds... 
Of course, our friends managed to "pivot", and so did we.  ZOOM Video Communications became all the rage and their stock skyrocketed, resulting in a revenue spike of almost 4-fold by Q2 of 2020!  It really is no surprise because the whole kettlebell community bought in and defaulted to the ZOOM  platform.  Talk about a lifesaver.  The NKC managed to salvage the year, participating in 5 competitions - our yearly average.  It's a shame we didn't get to see many of our kettlebell friends in person, but we demonstrated exactly what it means to be part of a team, as well as a community - we showed up, we put in the effort, and we gave each other strength in a time of struggle.
Nice work team.

Our April In-House was a blast!

We were so happy to see new people take to the platform, and grateful for our friends from Victoria for making the trip to Nanaimo.

We had a total of 14 lifters who participated, and Rachel jumped in twice to fill out half empty flights, finishing the day with 5 sets of kettlebell!

Most lifters made rank numbers for at least one event, and following everyone's individual sets was a 4 Team Longcycle Relay.  We had two mens and 2 womens teams, comprised of 3 members each, lifting 3 minutes each.

Overall Longcycle Relay Team Award went to Rod MacMillan, Matt O'Brien, and Jeff Bremer (Score: 113).  And the Top Women's Team Award went to Netta Buczek, Pat Marshall, and Rachel Robertson (Score: 122).

See footage from our event below!
See pictures from the event on Facebook

JANUARY:
​On January 13th we held our first club In-House meet of 2018.  We had some new lifters take to the platform, and many existing members got to shake the rust off and test their lofty ambitions.

The results are as follows:
C. Birchard - Snatch 14kg x 219, Jerk 2*12kg x 49
​J. Buczek - Snatch 12kg x 168 (66 rep PR!), TALC 2*12kg x 59 (Debut TALC set!)
D. Coulson - Snatch 8kg x 205 (53 rep PR!), MHS OALC 10kg x 103
​L. Cochrane - Snatch 8kg x 167, MHS OALC 10kg x 95 (Debut)
​N. Buczek - Jerk 8kg x 80 (Debut)
R. Robertson - Snatch 18kg x 203 (54 rep PR!), Jerk 18kg x 158 (debut biathlon jerk)
​L. Robinson - OALC 8kg x 103 (Debut OALC set!)
S. Macys - Snatch 28kg x 115, TALC 2*20kg x 86

FEBRUARY:
​On February 3rd, we headed to Vancouver, BC for Jodi Boates' annual IKFF kettlebell sport meet at Jodi Boates Athletics gym.  It was an opportunity for our lifters to try some new things and take stock of their continued progress.

​The results are as follows:
​C. Birchard - 5min MHS Snatch 16kg x 121, TALC 2*12kg x 92 (1st Ever TALC Set!)
​J. Buczek - Snatch 12kg x 183 (15 rep PR!), TALC 2*12kg x 69 (10 rep PR!)
​R. Robertson - OA Biathlon 20kg x 135.5 (debut 20kg biathlon attempt)
S. Macys - Biathlon 24kg x 131.5, TALC 2*24kg x 42

Congratulations to all lifters!  Keep looking ahead to your next conquest!

NEXT EVENT - March 24th, OKC International Vancouver, Richmond Oval

For the month of January, clients can bring a friend or family member new to Ballistic Strength Gym and BOTH TRAIN FREE**

**Free pass redeemable on date of attendance only, one free pass per person from Jan. 1st - 31st