Five Snake Athletic members set PBS in NSW Weightlifting competition

It was the first time she had taken part in a NSW Weightlifting Association open event, and Whiting had been hesitant about entering before Snake Athletic general manager, Mat Crowe, had talked her around.

"Kristy didn't want to do it, she was hesitant," Crowe said.

"But in the end we said 'Look, it'll be really good for you'."

After barely managing a second attempt, Whiting was unable to complete her third snatch and looked as though she would end her campaign early.

But, when it came time for the clean and jerks to begin, she pushed past the pain barrier and managed to set a new personal best of 80 kilograms.

"That was a pretty cool thing to see, that she busted up her elbow and still got the job done," Crowe said.

"If she had missed the snatch or had to continue on with that particular movement, we probably would have withdrawn her. But luckily she got that first one out of the way, and the clean and jerk is a different style of lift so the elbow isn't under as much pressure.

"Thankfully she was able to get it up and stand underneath it."

Whiting was not the only one to defy her body over the weekend, as Snake Athletic coach Roni Pearson also set a new PB in spite of an injury.

In fact, all five local athletes set new records for themselves at the competition, which was held at Snake Athletic on Saturday.

14 lifters in total turned out for the competition, having come from Port Macquarie, Sydney, and Newcastle.

For four of the five Tamworth residents (Whiting, Matt Park, Mitch Thompson, and Jordan Jeffries), Saturday marked the first time they had competed at all.

Park was the only one of the five not to win his division, despite his combined total of 154 kilograms lifted, as two of his opponents were experienced competitors from Sydney.

In all, Crowe was "really chuffed" with the performances put forward by the Snake Athletic contingent.

"It's quite a daunting thing to do, standing up in front of a crowd of people," he said.

"Everyone's looking at you while you're performing a lift, it's quite nerve-wracking ... once you get one in the books and you get a green tick, it does relieve a lot of pressure."

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