The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Pumping iron Swatridge admits that football has always been his real passion whether suiting up for his school team or playing for the Twin Cities Predators. Trying to Etay fit‘t'urns into weightâ€"lifting championship for WCI footballer The hardâ€"hitting linebacker said he quickly understood that if he wanted to continue to make an impact on the field, hitting the weights would have to be part of his training. He just didn‘t realize how good at weight lifting he was becoming until one of his powerâ€"lifting instructors at the school suggested he enter the local highâ€"school competition. "I hadn‘t even heard about it until a few weeks ago," said Swaâ€" tridge. "My power fit teacher told me about it and apparently it has been going on for the last five years." While new to the sport, it has been the launching pad of some of the world‘s biggest stars, including California Gov. and former Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Swatridge isn‘t about the bulk â€" he‘s more interested in developâ€" ing his power for football. â€""It‘s always been more of some thing to do on the side," said Swa tridge. So he went into the local comâ€" petition with little expectations knowing he would be competitive, especially in his favourite event, the dead lift. Dead lifting is simply trying to lift as much weight as you can from a squatting position to your waist. _ The other elements of the comâ€" petition featured the bench press "I hadn‘t heard about it until a few weeks ago ... apparently it has been going on for the last five years." â€"Andrew Swatridge WCI powerâ€"lifting champion By Bos VrBanac Chronicle Staff and the squat. The bench press is when you‘re on your back lifting hundreds of pounds of weight over your chest and then bringing that weight down. Squats entail putting as much weight on your shoulders, then bending down into a position that almost has you sitting on the floor. A successful squat means raising all that weight back up to a standâ€" ing position. WCI‘s Andrew Swatridge turned all the time he spent in the weight room getting ready for football season into a WCSSAA championship at a powerâ€" lifting event held at St. Mary‘s Catholic secondary school. a ans uon Ania 7 D "It‘s all about lifting the maxiâ€" mum weight that you can do," said Swatridge. "And they‘re all pretty standard movements I do in my weight training." Swatridge thought he could be competitive in his weight class of 75 kilograms, where the athletes weigh about 165 pounds. The first leg of the competition We Pay The GST & PST On Your Purchase On Any Item in The Store April 18, 19, 20 464 Albert St. (Parkdaale Plaza, next to the beer store) Waterloo ~ 519â€"885â€"2220 SPORTS NO TAX SALE was the squats where Swatridge lifted 273 pounds. It was a personal best, but he didn‘t think it was going to be one of the best in the competition. Next came the bench press where he lifted a respectable 248.5 pounds, or more than 1 1/2 times his own body weight. Surprisingly he found himself near the top of the competition board, and lifting weights that much larger competitors weren‘t even lifting. That set up his final competiâ€" tion in the dead lift. "I know that one person beat me for sure, but he was in a higher weight class," said Swatridge of his more than 470â€"pound lift. "After that I knew I kind of won my weight class but I wasn‘t sure KANATICS FiSHING TTouan until they finally announced the winners at the end." With one championship under his belt, Swatridge said he‘s looking forward to the provincial champiâ€" â€" Andrew Swatridge on his surprising win at the WCSSAA powerâ€"lifting championships "There‘s been a few more jokes about it. I‘m just excited to see how much I can lift." WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, April 16, 2008 * 31 onshipâ€"later this month in Burlingâ€" ton. He‘s already taking the next competition a little more seriously, meeting with his dad‘s personal trainer and getting proper instrucâ€" tion on how to dead lift the right way. "I figure I can lift even more at provincials," he said on Monday, demonstrating his form in WCI‘s weight room. And with the win comes a little more recognition from the rest of the guys in the weight room, and a few more guys calling out "Swatty" in the hallways. "There‘s been a few more jokes about it," said the softâ€"spoken 16â€" yearâ€"old. s _ _"I‘m just excited to see how much I can lift." BOB VRBANAC PHOTO