The 2017 Canadian Junior National Championships has concluded, and once again Boady Santavy has left his name in multiple record books. Competing in his new weight category of 94KG (207lb), the soon to be 20 year old was successful in all of his attempts and finished the day with a snatch of 158KG (348lb), a clean & jerk of 188KG (414lb), and a total of 346KG (761lb).
The snatch represented a new senior and Junior Canadian record in the weight class, surpassing the previous record by half a kilo, which was set in 2005 by Sacha Amédé. All three lifts extended his own Junior Canadian records, which he first set this past November at the Ontario Fall Classic (video of which can be seen on BarBend’s YouTube page.)
His total tied the current Canadian record at 94 KG, which was set in 2010 by Nick Roberts.
The Sarnia, Ontario native also set a Commonwealth Junior record in the snatch, which surpassed the existing record of 152KG (334lb) set in 2013 by Steven Kari of Papua New Guinea. For Americans such as myself, the Commonwealth represents 53 member countries that previously had been part of the British Commonwealth and separated on mutual terms. America had been part of British Commonwealth until 1776 when our forefathers decided we did not like taxation without representation, so we had a tea party and left. So while the Commonwealth does not have the same fame south of the US – Canadian border as it does north of it, it is a fairly big deal. It’s on-par with setting a Pan-American record, for example.
Looking forward, the Canadian Weightlifting Federation (CWF) will be sending a team to the Junior World Championships in Tokyo, Japan; however, they only fund the top two male and female athletes who qualify. Santavy appears a lock as the top ranked male athlete, and based on limited result information, the 2nd ranked junior male athlete looks to be is Alex Bellemarre of Quebec. He successfully lifted 141KG (310 lb) in the snatch and 162KG (356lb) in the clean & jerk for a 303KG (667lb) total as a 77KG athlete.
However, there still is the Ontario Championships in March, which will serve as the final qualification event for Canada’s Junior World Team. And to my understanding, Nikolay Varbanov in the 69KG category is ranked 3rd on the junior ranking list. If he improves his standing to jump over Bellemarre, he seems likely to have his trip funded by the CWF; if not he is still eligible to compete for Team Canada, however he has to fund his own trip to Tokyo.
Looking even farther down the road, Santavy appears to be locked onto the Canadian Senior aged teams for the Pan American Championships to be held this summer in Miami, Florida, as well as the World Championships to be held later this year in Anaheim, California. He is currently the top ranked male athlete in Canada, however if 2016 Olympian Pascal Plamondon is able to total 331KG or more at the Canadian National Championships in May, he would retake the top position. At the 2016 Olympics, Plamondon totaled 346KG in the 85KG category.
