A group of local athletes brought home the hardware following a virtual fitness and bikini provincial and national competition.
Guided by Laurie Dickson, a local trainer with Aspire2bFit, the local team of five women competed in the International Drug Free Athletics (IDFA) provincial and national competitions a few weeks ago.
Typically an event that would have been held in Ontario, the competition went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop athletes from participating.
Dickson said her athletes, some of whom were competing in their first ever event , filmed their posing routines and sent them in to judges, which were adjudicated the same way as if it were a live event.
Theresa Lillington, Haylie Farquhar, Kyla Brass, Amore Tolfree, Jacqueline Comin all had successful results in various provincial categories, while Brass and Farquhar also advanced into nationals.
“So these girls did fantastic,” Dickson said. “I was extremely happy with their results. I just feel at this time in our world, a lot of people have given up on their goals and aspirations and it was a great time for them.”
It takes approximately six months to train an athlete for competition, which includes elements of weight loss, sculpting and dietary planning, according to Dickson. Additionally, different categories, such as fitness or bikini, have different emphasis on elements such as stage presence or posing.
It was a little different conducting a competition in a virtual online setting, said Dickson.
“The only difference really was the stage presence wasn’t there, the energy from the stage wasn’t there,” Dickson said. “But if you create it, it will come around.”
Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, Dickson has been able to continue training her team out of the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort.
“Each of the the athletes — you get to know them, you get to know their big why and their story,” Dickson said. “We all have hardships, some of them have lost their jobs, some have hurdles to jump, and when you can reach and pour faith and belief into someone, it’s really rewarding, so I’m really proud of my team that way.”
RESULTS
Provincial - B.C.
1st place Masters Fitness Model - Theresa Lillington
1st place Novice Fitness Model - Haylie Farquhar
1st place Open Fitness Model - Kyla Brass
1st place Masters Bikini - Theresa Lillington
2nd place Novice Bikini - Amore Tolfree
3rd place Open Bikini - Amore Tolfree
5th place Novice Bikini - Haylie Farquhar
4th place Novice Bikini - Theresa Lillington
3rd place Novice Bikini - Jacqueline Comin
1st place Open Bikini - Kyla Brass
1st place Transformation Challenge - Haylie Farquhar
National
1st place - Fitness Model - Kyla Brass
2nd place - Bikini - Kyla Brass
4th place - Transformation Challenge - Haylie Farquhar