Chantelle Gauci isn't your average 24-year-old. You won't find many 65kg females who can squat 170kg or deadlift almost 180kg, but the young powerlifter's dedication to her sport has seen her climb the ranks fast in her first 12 months of competing.
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Starting lifting in 2020, Chantelle had always been into fitness but when she really started to add on serious weight to her training she realised the potential she had in the world of strength sports.
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Now, just over a year later, she recently set the new National Junior Squat Record in the U67.5kg category, successfully putting a 170kg barbell on her back for a full rep squat, a lift almost three times her body weight.
"Ten seconds after I left the platform I cried, I just couldn't believe it, I finally was able to see all my hard work over the last 18 months pay off," Chantelle said.
"It wasn't even the plan to hit that on the day but when I went down for 160kg and it felt great I knew I needed to give it a go.
"It was just an amazing moment, I was crying, my coach was crying, my mum was in hysterics, I'll always remember it."
For Chantelle it hasn't been an easy road, there's been lifestyle changes she's had to make, but the love that she's developed for the sport has always helped her to push through.
One of the biggest things for lifters is the amount of food one has to eat to maintain both their weight and increase muscle mass.
At between 65 and 67kg, Chantelle eats an average 4000-4500 calories a day to maintain her body weight, an amount she has had to teach her body to intake over the last several years.
"I didn't do it overnight, it took me a good while to be able to build up to where my diet is at now," she said.
The hardest adjustment for Chantelle was making the decision to switch back to eating meat after being a vegetarian for the past 11 years.
"I just wasn't able to hit the protein levels I needed to while on a plant based diet," she said.
"It was honestly pretty hard to do mentally at first.
"Getting your body used to eating meat again after such a long time period is hard but it's been the best decision I could have made.
"In the last eight to nine months since changing back to meat my performance has gone through the roof from where it was at."
Chantelle currently trains four times a week, building her schedule around her three main lifts - barbell squat, bench press and deadlift while adding in accessory movements along the way.
She does this while also balancing a full-time job waitressing in Nowra and studying Forensic Science at the University of Canberra.
"At first it was difficult to find the balance and I did feel a little run down at times," she said.
"I love training though and that love means it's never a hassle, I finish work and I'm excited to go train, I am never burdened by it."
Chantelle attributes her success and balance to the fantastic support system she has built around her, especially the fantastic relationship she has with her coach, Manny Tsiolakis, owner of Dynamis Strength.
"My coach (Manny) is just amazing, he has helped me so much and he's literally so supportive of me and whatever competition I want to do."
"When I told him I wanted to do a competition in Victoria, he didn't even hesitate and just said "yeah let's do it", keep in mind we had literally just gotten back from Newcastle."
"He's always believed in me and helped push me to where I am at now."
Manny said the pleasure has been all his being able to coach Chantelle, with her being the type of client that "makes the job easy."
"She's so modest, she honestly doesn't like talking herself up, but she's such a hard worker and deserves all the praise she gets," he said.
"She makes coaching so easy, she's always the hardest worker in the room.
"We have been working with each other for almost two years and she's never missed a training session, her diets always been on point and she always wants to improve.
"Most people I really have to monitor but with Chantelle I give her the program and she always gets it done."
Chantelle said the hardest challenge she had faced was believing in herself.
"Being a smaller girl, I always walk into a lift never thinking I can do it," she said.
"I've always found the confidence I have in myself has always held me back a little bit."
However, since setting the squat record, Chantelle has discovered a new found trust in her abilities, a mindset that she hopes will further grow as she continues on her journey.
Through posting on her social media and showcasing her journey, Chantelle hopes to encourage and inspire other female athletes to continue to enter the growing strength sport scene, especially with how much misinformation is spread online.
"There's an unfortunate stigma that eating a lot and lifting weights makes you bulky when that's not true," she said.
"I'm a smaller girl and you wouldn't be able to tell that I eat 4000 plus calories a day, there's just so many girls who get caught up in what they apparently can and cannot eat.
"Girls are consistently growing up seeing what influences peddle to them and it puts an image in their head of what they're supposed to look like.
"I think it turns a lot of females off strength sports or getting into to the gym or it pushes them to starting for the wrong reasons because they want to look a type of way."
Chantelle has been able to further her knowledge through her studies in biochemistry, nutrition and physiology and said that nutrition education in schools really needed to be better because it's contributing to the problem.
"It's amazing to have people reach out and start asking questions and become interested in the sport, I want to help guide girls out of that social media bubble," she said.
Next up for Chantelle is a trip to the biggest stage yet, competing at the national level in Tasmania in September later this year, where she'll join fellow local powerlifter and NSW Strongest Woman, Jaymi Morris.
"It's going to be a big step going to nationals this year but I'm so excited for the experience," she said.
"Long term to win nationals is the ultimate goal, I don't think it's on the cards for this year with some incredible and experienced lifters competing, I'm going to give it my all though.
"Just to step on the platform with some of the best from around the country will be so cool."
Chantelle hopes female engagement in the sport of powerlifting will continue to grow and that she can help to fuel the continued progression of the sport locally.
"In a small town like Nowra, strength sports aren't huge so if I can help to promote and grow the sport within the area as a whole that would be a dream."