Westmeath Weightlifter helps Team Ireland to victory in Celtic Nations Championships

A Westmeath weightlifter has helped team Ireland win the Celtic Nations Weightlifting Competition in Glasgow, Scotland.

Castlepollard Community College student and Coole woman, Sinéad Bowers, was chosen to represent Ireland in the competition.

Sinéad began her weightlifting career around 12 years old and is now a six-time National Champion.

Sinead spoke to the Westmeath Examiner following Team Ireland’s impressive win, discussing her early days of weightlifting.

“My mum used to go to the gym in Mullingar, and at the same time, my brothers were at rugby training, and I didn't really have anything to do, so I would just kind of sit there waiting for her.

“The owner of the gym just asked me one day if I wanted to try Olympic weightlifting, so I just said, ‘Why not?’ It would help pass the time.

“But I just got really into it and then I started competing when I was around 12, and have loved it ever since.”

Although only 18, Sinead is very experienced. She is a six-time National Champion and has competed in two Celtic Nations Championships.

Team Ireland performed brilliantly, and when asked about how the competition went, Sinead said: “It was such a lovely atmosphere with our team, I got two personal bests myself.

“One of our team bombed out and we still managed to win, so it was amazing really.

“It was a close competition, and it could have gone either way, but we came out on top, and everyone involved was so lovely.”

On her hopes for the future, Sinead said: “I'm hoping to be selected again next year, and if I can get my numbers up maybe get selected for the European competition.

“My main goal is to be in Europe sometime soon, hopefully in the next few years.”

The sky is the limit for Coole’s weightlifting superstar, and hopefully, if she keeps performing as well as she has been, we will see a Westmeath star in a European team soon.