A year after beginning to take powerlifting seriously as a sport, Tiaki Freeman lifted his profile to the national level.
He won the recent regional competition in Wellington, setting an unofficial national junior deadlift record of 317.5kg in the process.
Next month he will represent Aotearoa at the Junior World Powerlifting Championships in Malta.
What started off as a training method to help his rugby career, has instead become his passion.
“It started in my last year in high school and doing the local competitions,” he told teaonews.co.nz
He was introduced to Jonnaia Fuimaono at Buildabody Gym in Lower Hutt.
Fuimaono is stoked his young protege has grown so quickly.
“The fact he is representing his country after a year or so of competitive powerlifting is a big achievement,” Fuimaono said.
The big achievement also comes with a big expense. Powerlifting is not funded by national sports bodies, so Freeman and his whānau are trying to gather the funds needed to get to Malta.
“To me any sport you are doing that represents your country should get some sort of funding,” Fuimaono says.
Freeman’s family has rallied around him, organising quiz nights and auction fundraisers. His uncle, former NZ First MP Ron Mark volunteered to MC the event, where around $4000 was raised through auctions of signed sports memorabilia going to the highest bidder.
“Tiaki is one of those boys who, once he puts his mind to something, he does it. What I love about him is he does it with love and grace, he does it with manners and decorum and he is always looking to see who else he can help,” Mark says.
“He has fought some demons and some hard battles. But the thing I love and admire about him is his positivity and how he lifts himself above adversity, puts stuff aside and just focuses back on his mission and cracks it.”
His mother, Sheree has also created a Givealittle page to help raise the rest of the funds needed to get to Malta in time for the World Champs that start on August 28.
Though he is reluctant to ask for support, Tiaki is grateful for the support his whānau and his hometown communities in Wairarapa and Wellington have shown so far.
“Any tautoko really helps me. Even if it’s just a message sent to me or any inspiring words that can help me, to an athlete like myself that might be needed in an important competition or a generous donation to my Givealittle page.”
His personal bests across the three disciplines of powerlifting are 280kg (back squat), 145kg (bench press) and 317.5kg (deadlift) for a total record of 742.5kg.
When he isn’t in the gym, Tiaki balances his civil engineering studies and a full-time job with Multi Civil Wellington.
