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28 + WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, May 7, 2008 SJAM powerhouse Attia brings home school‘s first provincial powerlifting title rying to figure out where he fits in the I highâ€"school pecking order, Sir John A. Macdonald secondary school‘s Tarek Attia said he always considered himself the class clown. From class clown to strongman "I‘m more of the funny guy in school," said the 17â€"yearâ€"old Grade 10 student. "I was never really the strong guy, the goodâ€"looking guy or the athletic guy. _ "I always thought of myself as the funny guy so that‘s what I tried to be." _ â€" That will change now that he‘s won the Allâ€"Ontario Powerlifting Championships in Burlington, Ont., last week, which followed a recordâ€"setting performance at the regionals at the start of April. "Now I‘m walking with my shirt off so the ladies can have something to look at," joked the gregarious weightâ€"lifting dynamo. _ _ It‘s been an amazing transformation for the fiveâ€"footâ€"four, 55â€"kilogram powerhouse who picked up powerlifting by chance in the fall when taking a powerfit course. His instructors, Pete Kalbfleisch and Andy Lavell, thought the athletically built Attia would be a natural for the power events like the bench press, dead lift and squat. "They helped me a lot," said Attia. "They gave me a lot of oneâ€"onâ€"one coaching." "The technical aspects of powerlifting are more advanced than what we teach in the course," said Lavell. "Tarik has been able to pick up the technique quite well. _ "He‘s very strong for his body weight, so we saw a lot of potential in him." â€" He more than rose to those expectations at the local highâ€"school championships at the beginning of April where he set a record in the bench press in his weight class and even exceeded the standard set in the weight class above him. "I was stoked when I broke the two records, one in my weight class and the other in the weight class above me," said Attia. "I was never really the strong guy, the goodâ€"looking guy or the athletic guy. I always thought of myself as the funny guy so that‘s what I tried to be." â€"Tarek Attia Allâ€"Ontario highâ€"school powerlifting champ By Bos VrBanac Chronicle Staff â€" The only thing that kept him from winâ€" ning the overall title was some poor form he showed in the squats. That was his inexperiâ€" ence showing through, and he rededicated himself to improve his form and his strength Sir John A. Macdonald‘s Tarek Attia blew away the competition at the Allâ€"Ontario Powerliftâ€" ing Championships last week. He hopes the win changes the perception of him around the school as a jokester, but it probably won‘t. sos vrsanac proto SPORTS He did that and more, actually adding 35 pounds to his power. events in three weeks while cleaning up the problems he had with the squats. He finished with an 80â€"kilogram in time for the provincial championships Please Recycle This Newspaper CS squat, 120â€"kilogram deadlift and even more impressively bench pressed 75 kilograms. That meant he was lifting oneâ€"andâ€"aâ€"half his body weight in the bench press alone. "I had a goal of adding 15 pounds a week," said Attia, about his most recent training. "It worked out give or take a few pounds." The confident Attia admitted he was a litâ€" tle nervous waiting for his final results at the provincial championships and he saw his scores flashed up on the screen. But he still waited to hear his name called before he started to celebrate. "I knew I was first but I just wanted to hear my name and get the medal into my hands before I celebrated," said Attia. "I was really happy when I heard my name." And now that he‘s done that, Attia said he‘s already pushing himself to beat the provincial records next year after shattering the regional ones. "I‘m hoping to break some more records in the 60â€"kilogram category both at the regional and hopefully provincial level too," said Attia. "I like to reach new goals each week and adding about 10 pounds. "Just getting to that mark is really satisâ€" factory for me. It‘s a really big deal." _ â€" "I‘m already the second tallest in my famâ€" ily and I don‘t think I‘ll get much taller," laughed Attia. "But I always like to say Arabs have heart. "I always like to say things like that." In terms of genetics, his dad Samir said he was also a bit of a strongman himself when he was a member of the Egyptian army before he immigrated to Canada. But his son joked that his dad‘s memory might be a little foggy. > He said he doesn‘t figure he will do much more growing over the next few years. At fiveâ€"footâ€"four he‘s already one of the tallest members of his family. "My dad said he was really strong, but whose dad doesn‘t?" laughed Attia. "But I guess I do have a really strong family." _ _ And while he adjusts to being considered one of his school‘s strong men, he hasn‘t lost his sense of humour. Just consider him a powerhouse in a small package. "Now I‘m walking with my shirt off so the ladies can have something to look at." "I guess you can say that," he laughed â€"Tarek Attia on winning the powerlifting title Retirement & Tax Russ McEachnie