This week Bill Carne was back at the SAW gymnasium in Haverfordwest to chat to another of the growing list of Welsh Schools’ weight-lifting champions in Niamh Roach, who is just 15 years of age but showing a maturity in the sport that goes beyond her tender years...

WELSH weight-lifting champion Niamh Roach provides the perfect approach to the dedication needed in sport because although she lives in Tenby, where she is studying for her GCSEs at Greenhill School, she makes sure that she regularly attends her weight-lifting sessions at Strength Academy Wales.

She is the third generation of the family to be involved because her late grandfather was Lyn Roach, who kept weight lifting going in the county from the garage at his home near Withybush Hospital and represented Wales in the Commonwealth Games.

Then Niamh’s uncle Mark and father Simon, also represented Wales in the same competition and dad now helps coach the Welsh team and runs the highly successful SAW gymnasium in Haverfordwest.

15 year old Niamh attends sessions at SAW three evenings a week and gets there in a variety of ways. On Mondays she shares lifts with rugby players Dom Booth, Harri Williams and Ben James, who are part of the ‘Pembrokeshire Pathways’ Scheme held in the same building, with her mother, Helen Davies, playing a wonderful role as the chauffeur in her turn.

Wednesdays see Niamh catching a bus to the county town after school and her dad picks her up and puts her safely back on the bus home afterwards – and on Fridays she usually stays with her gran, Beryl Rees, in Fishguard or dad in Haverfordwest.

It means a total commitment to her sport after taking it up last summer, almost by chance after her cousin stayed with the family on holiday and she took him across to try it. She was coaxed into having a bash and she took to it straight away because she quickly understood the technique of using the weight on the bar to raise it aloft, rather than trying brute strength.

Now Niamh is a petite young lady and certainly doesn’t want to become muscle bound like some of the Eastern European lifters so technique is vital and a measure of how much she has improved can be gauged from the fact that her personal best at the start for ‘Clean and Jerk’ was 18kgs and for the ‘Snatch’ a smaller 12kgs, a combined total of 30kgs.

“It took a little time but then things suddenly clicked into place one evening,” Niamh told us, “and now my PBs are 41Kgs and 28Kgs for a combined total of 69kgs, more than double what I set out with!”

Niamh achieved both in her first serious competition, the Welsh Schools’ Championships ,which were held last year at Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest.

“I competed in the 56kgs class and was nervous than I thought possible, partly because it is very lonely standing out there on your own in front of everybody, and also because most people know who my father is and in a way that makes their expectations of me that little higher.

“But my dad calmed me down, telling me to just do my best, as did Owain Rowlands, who took on the role of my coach for the day and kept giving me good advice that kept me really focussed..

“I was thrilled when I was successful with my first lift and even more delighted when I got through the competition , succeeding with all three lifts in both the ‘Clean and Jerk’ and ‘Snatch’ to reach my new PB.

“What made it even nicer was the amazing support I received from everyone, especially from my mum Helen and dad Simon, gran Beryl and coach Owain – and my Welsh teacher, Mrs Swales, also turned up to cheer me on!”

“I was weighed in before the start of the competition by Michaela Breeze, the best-known Welsh female weight lifter and she realised who I was and she was also very encouraging, as were Tim Pawlett and Darren in giving me good advice and loud support – it was just brilliant!”

Prior to her involvement in weight lifting, Niamh was already a useful sporting all-rounder because she used to play netball for Greenhill School and Tenby Ladies, hockey for school and Pembroke Ladies, represented Greenhill in cross country at Oakwood – and was kept busy in her studies for English, Maths, Double Science, PE, History, Geography, Health & Social, plus long-course RE and Welsh.

But sporting-wise her focus is now very much on weight lifting and she even attends the SAW gym on Saturday morning if she can.

Chat to dad Simon and he would say he is very pleased by her progress but doesn’t praise her too highly because he wants to keep her feet firmly implanted on the ground, bit Owain Rowlands is a little more forthcoming as he says,

“It is a pleasure to have Niamh in the gym because she is now part of a group of teenage girls who have found what they want to do and are fully focussed.

“She has a terrific work ethic and is also very encouraging to others, something we try to build in from the start,

“At one stage she struggled a little in the snatch but she listened as I took her right back to the basics and now is performing very well in both disciplines again.

Her win in the Welsh Championships qualified Niamh for the British finals which take place in March at Birmingham and she is already looking forward to the challenge.

“I know I’m going to be nervous but that can help me do well on the day after I’ve done all the hard work beforehand.

“It would be nice to win but my aim is to complete three good lifts in the ‘Clean & Jerk’ and ‘Snatch’ sections because I know then that I did my very best on the day.

“I’m also still young so there will be other competitions so I can go to Birmingham in a positive frame of mind. “

Chat to Niamh Roach for just a short while and it is easy to see that she knows what she wants from her sport of weight-lifting and is already well on the way to achieving her goals.

She is competitive in a positive way, full committed and gaining a sense of achievement, but all in proportion that shows considerable maturity for her age – and she is a great sporting advert for her family, SAW gymnasium and her county!