Teen powerlifting phenom deadlifts 320kg and crowned world youth champion

Teenage powerlifting sensation Seth Snijder has smashed his own records on his way to being crowned a world champion for the first time.

Representing New Zealand at the World Powerlifting Championships in Rome, Italy, last month, the then 17-year-old won two youth world championships and set three new world records – the highlight a 320kg dead lift done with relative ease.

“I could definitely feel like I had more in me,” Snijder said. “I reckon I could have done 330(kg), maybe even a little bit more.”

But his coach, Adam Mainey, of Fortitude Strength in Pukekohe, believes Snijder’s records and world champs may not have even been the best part about his special achievements in Rome. Snijder, who is just over 190cm tall and around 145kg, finished second overall in the open men’s 120kg plus division at the world championships.

“For a youth athlete to come second in an open category is just outstanding,” Mainey said. “That’s not something you see every day. That in itself is just incredible.”

Snijder, who turned 18 the day after being crowned a double world champion, will not move up to the junior (19-23) division until November next year, giving him another 11 months to better his own world youth records with World Powerlifting, a drug-tested federation.

Powerlifting is made up of three disciplines: squat, bench press and dead lift, with the highest combined total being crowned the winner.

Snijder broke his own record in his first dead lift attempt with 293kg, followed by 307kg, also enough to bank the Olympic youth record and then the 320kg.

He opened at 270kg on the squat before breaking the world youth record at 280kg, and then bettering it again at 290kg.

Snijder’s nemesis is no secret. His mind-blowing numbers in the squat and dead lift are able to cover his bench press – for now – but as he moves up in competition, that won’t always be the case.

In Rome, he successfully opened at 137kg, then 145kg in his second lift but was unable to clear 150kg in his final bench press attempt. “He needs to improve a lot more on his bench but we’re well on track to getting that sorted,” Mainey said.

A year ago his personal best was 132kg. Without making excuses, Snijder said unracking the bar did not go well on the 150kg attempt which may have cost him a successful lift.

What is remarkable is Snijder’s 755kg total was still enough to break the world youth record. His Wilks system – a powerlifting calculator that measures strength against bodyweights to create an even playing field – score of 490.92 was enough to be crowned the overall youth world champ.

For Snijder, who took up the sport a little over three years ago, being crowned a world champion with the New Zealand flag hanging over his broad shoulders in Italy on his last day of being 17 was the best early present possible. “It was just crazy for me holding the flag behind my back,” he said.

“For a youth athlete to come second in an open category is just outstanding. That’s not something you see every day. That in itself is just incredible.”

Adam Mainey

Images captured the special moment when Snijder’s 320kg dead lift was cleared and his emotions could finally burst out as he encountered his proud coach.

“It’s amazing,” Mainey said. “It’s something we both worked really hard for to make sure we could get there. That relationship has been pretty close, so it’s really cool to see him be successful and get what he wanted out of the competition.”

Already back in the gym, Snijder’s immediate future involves a muscle-building phase before working on technique and strength for 2024 competitions. The longterm goal is to become an open men’s world champion before moving into strongman competitions where he would love to compete in the World’s Strongest Man.

A chunk of Snijder’s early powerlifting success has been through natural and brute strength, Mainey said, so a major focus will be continuing to develop his technique.

“Strength is always a focus but technique is something that we need to really focus on,” Mainey said.

If all his training in the gym wasn’t enough, the Pukekohe based lifter – a former student of Sacred Heart who still competes in his school sports socks – is now on the hunt for work in the bricklaying trade to keep his sizeablemuscles moving during theday.

Snijder’s Fortitude and New Zealand teammate Rachel Green won the women’s 84kg-99kg division at the World Championships in Rome and the masters 40-44 category on the Wilks system. She unofficially bettered the New Zealand record witha152kgsquat.

Another Kiwi athlete, Callum Maule won the youth 85-93kg category and finished second overall in his weight class, while Matthew Epplett won the masters 45-49 division in the 105-119kg section.

Bench press specialist Harry Kent won the 94-104kg category and the masters 45-49 division with a lift of 153kg.