The enthusiasm of the audience that filled the room was matched only by the determination of the competitors. The pre-competition hype, advertised on various social media platforms, promised a very special evening. And the 2019 Sephardic Community Center Bench Press Contest did not disappoint.
Held annually at the Sephardic Community Center during spring since the early 1990s, the contest has drawn the better weightlifters in the community for a generation – as they compete for a title, a very heavy trophy, and right to lay claim as “the strongest.”
Often recognized as the best demonstration of testing one’s strength, the bench press had become popularized during the annual NFL Combine, where the best college football players are tested before the annual NFL draft. Now well established beyond the traditional gym scene, the bench press still remains, after a century, as the premier chest-building exercise of choice, as well as the exercise that offers the participants of all ages the opportunity for “bragging rights,” male and female.
The recently established ‘1901 Fitness’ at the Center was the setting for the community’s 28th annual test of strength, bringing out a mix of some long-time veterans and yet others who were competing for the first time. At this year’s gathering, the youngest competitors were 15 and the oldest athletes, seventy years older. For the mathematically challenged – yes, that’s 85 years old. To allow a fair competition, the athletes are divided into different divisions: 114 lb., 123 lb., 132 lb., 148 lb., 165 lb., 181 lb., 198 lb., 220 lb., 220+ lb., Women and Senior. Given three opportunities to lift the weight, with the heaviest lift registered as that competitor’s “best lift,” each division winner took home a powerlifting trophy – the same one that is awarded at some of the nation’s premier competitions. From among the division winners, an “overall winner” was then chosen.
As announced at the beginning of the contest, this competition is very different than the game of golf or tennis, where a certain quiet decorum is expected. At any bench press competition, the audience that comes to watch is strongly encouraged to make its presence felt – to scream and cheer while music often blasts as a backdrop. Invariably, the participants and the audience are pumped up, lending to an excitement that could be heard far from the room where the contest was staged.
With several local weight class lifting records set this year, the 2019 contest did not fail to impress or entertain. In fact, there were more 300 lb.+ lifts than had been recorded in any of the previous 28 competitions.
The Center’s newly-crowned division winners were:
- Isaac Taub, 114 lb.
- Alex Taub, 123 lb.
- Isaac Sweid, 132 lb.
- Benny Levy, 148 lb.
- Chaim Dayan, 165 lb.
- David Sutton, 181 lb.
- Arthur Kofman, 198 lb.
- Joseph Mazon, 220 lb.
- Sol Setton, 220+ lb.
- Betty Esses, Women
- Howie Hoffman, Seniors over 60
- Jamie Dabah, Seniors over 80.
The overall winner was Chaim Dayan who impressively benched 310 lb. at a weight of 164.
Organized by the Center’s Health and Wellness Director, David Jolovitz, and officiated by Meir Jolovitz, who maintained the tradition when he judged his 24th competition, the 2019 contest was an outstanding success. Now in the record books, the nearly 30 competitors and the two-hundred-strong audience who cheered them on during the two-hour competition – and joined by several hundred more who watched it via live-stream – would collectively agree that the 2019 Bench Press Contest might well be remembered as the best yet.
Until next year’s.
