My Latvian Experience – 2009 IUKL Ventspils Atlants Report

It should come as no surprise that I struggled with the decision to travel to Eastern Europe alongside Lorraine Patten and a caravan of her kettlebell enthusiasts last week because of the situation with a close death in the family (my Uncle David Garcia).  Breaking away from such intense family time was extremely difficult, but thanks to some precious and heartfelt woman-to-woman advice from Surya, I hopped on the plane on Wednesday and didn’t look back.  I kept thinking about my trip to Greece and all the positive experiences that come along with traveling abroad.  And, let’s not forget, being invited on trips like this is no doubt a childhood dream come true for me.

However, upon our arrival, we went through a significant meltdown.  After a 24 hour journey across the globe, Finnair lost our luggage.  Tossed completely out of my comfort zone, I instantly felt regret over my decision to leave my family and I couldn’t help but feel like a burden on my kettlebell friends too.  How could I compete without my weightlifting shoes and my wrist wraps?  Also, we looked and smelled like yesterday’s socks, which certainly didn’t make us feel like social butterflies.  Luckily, my mom and I decided to make the best out the situation and we quickly went on an adventurous shopping trip through old town Riga for the important stuff like toiletries and a comfy t-shirt to sleep in for the night. Not surprisingly, when our attitudes changed, so did our circumstances.  Enter my Finnish friend Kukka.  Turns out she has a friend who works for the airline and she gave us a VIP hotline to call in a crisis.  Lucky for us, our luggage was on the 10:40 am flight the following day.

…and thanks to Lorraine, the rest of the journey to Ventspils went smoothly.  On Friday morning, we met up with some of the lifters from the Slovenian and Finnish teams and traveled by shuttle bus on a three-hour ride out of Riga.  What a blast meeting new friends Svetlana, Marko, Thomas, Simon, Jaka and spending time with old ones like Kukka, Gregor, and Andrew!  This was the start of a VERY fun trip!  The ride seemed like it took five minutes.

Upon arrival: weigh-ins

It was pretty obvious to us when we stepped in the gym that this was going to be a cool Girevoy Sport event.  Imagine the talent, the dedication, the passion for kettlebells when you’re surrounded by Eastern European competitors, ranging from Masters of Sport World Class to amateurs.  Being around this energy feels intoxicating and confirms why I love lifting kettlebells as much as I do.

I spent time with lifters from Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Denmark, Slovenia, Latvia and Estonia. Each day we woke up excited to have coffee and breakfast with whomever was downstairs in the cafe (that’s Markel, Thierry, Marko, and Johan in the photo above).

Sleep was nearly impossible because of all the adrenaline running through my veins.  But I have to say, staying up late with these folks made me feel like a kid again (that’s Svetlana in the photo above; she’s a kettlebell lifter and a tiny fireball of fun).

Here’s a photo of Lorraine Patten, the organizer of this trip, with Marko, Kukka, and Catherine Imes.

Speaking of Catherine Imes, I also roomed next door to her and sadly, we had more in common than kettlebells.  Like me, she lost a loved one tragically last week and by mind-boggling coincidence, we are both in unexpected mourning.  I can’t speak for her, but traveling there for some solace and joy amidst the grief was one of the best decisions I ever made for myself.

We stayed at the official hotel for the Olympic Training Center of Latvia.  They have a huge indoor basketball court, soccer field, track and field arena, skate park, tennis courts, and a large state of the art gymnasium where the professional weightlifters and kettlebell lifters train. In the gym, we shared a private locker room with four other small teams and it impressed us that each room had really nice tiled showers and a private bathroom—just for us!  This scenario was perfect for us lifters because we yearn for quiet amidst the chaos of competition.  We also worry about stuff like our expensive gear and MP3 players, computers, cameras, etc. so when we were given the key to safely secure everything at our leisure, it felt like our own private suite.

It’s hard not to be star struck by some of the top lifters here.

At first I was too intimidated to talk to Ginko (Latvia), Fuglev (Ukraine), Nikifor (Russia), Vilnishkis (Lithuania), and Lobonovsky (Ukraine) but their friendly and totally approachable personalities quickly eased any awkward formalities. I was pleasantly surprised that like our head coach, Valery Fedorenko, these guys seemed to genuinely care about the lifting.  At one point on Saturday morning, Fuglev began coaching (with great enthusiasm and spirit) any lifter passing through the training room.  Not surprisingly, several lifters have already mentioned this as the main highlight of their day.

The most exciting part of my day on Saturday was getting to take my competitive hat off and enjoy the competition as a spectator.  The amateurs (deceiving word considering they were using 2 x 24kgs) were great to watch.

I was also fortunate enough to witness champion lifter, Gintaras Vilnishkis of Lithuania.  And look at him, he’s a star.  In addition to his beastly talent (70 jerks with 2 x 32 kgs and 104 snatches with 32 kgs at only 66kg body weight) he wears the coolest outfits with the hippest hairdos. When Gintaras gave me a sweet Lithuanian Kettlebell Federation collector’s pin at the end of our awards ceremony, I turned into mush like an old Beatles’ fan.

The jerk set featuring Fedor, Gregor, and Andrew was also phenomenal.  I was so happy that I could just sit back and enjoy the show.  I really loved being entertained by music, dancers, jugglers, and formal opening and closing ceremonies.  What a gift!

Interestingly, just like every Kettlbell Sport event I have participated in the past, technical standards were difficult to uphold here too.  Some judges were issuing no counts, but I would say that in general they were letting quite a few lockouts slide in favor of a positive experience for the lifter.  I totally understand this, but the discrepancies do make it difficult to send the right message home.  No doubt the best male lifters in the house continued to serve as great role models for us all, however.

Leading up to my set the following day, I was freaked out about using a foreign kettlebell… and for good reason.  These had slick, slightly thicker, and more squarish handles.  Chalk was scarce and not widely used at the event either.  Andrew was asked to chalk our bells as best he could, but it was tough for him to get much on.  I went in with very little expectations because the truth is that even with the WKC bells and plenty of chalk, my snatch numbers aren’t great.  However, I felt confident that I could represent their high standards if I stayed focused on quality technique.  I didn’t put any pressure on myself and since I love to snatch, I ended up having a wonderful time up there—no stress!

The certificate and cash prize I received in the overall category was a huge surprise.  It took nearly one hour after the closing ceremony for all of the competitors to receive their allotment.  It was all very official and included submitting copies of my passport and drivers license, which was fine because I got to hang out with all the lifters in the process.  My heart was so full of gratitude for this unexpected reward that I immediately wanted to give the prize away in order to pay it forward.  After talking to Cate about it, the money will be going to the ICKB travel fund to honor the achievements of my teammates back home, ICKB Girls, Jess, Sara, Heidy, and Surya.  Needless to say, they were in my heart every step of the way in Latvia.

More great news.  For the first time this year, the IUKL is now letting women do the one arm long cycle event.  Kukka performed a 5 min demonstration with a 24 kg kettlebell that was inspiring!  I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes this year.  Spending time with other female lifters from Europe was incredible too.  Check out Kari (Norway), representing the IKFF, next to Kukka.

I loved the juniors using the 12 kg kettlebells, especially Siiri (pictured center in red with her aunt, Ulle, who is her coach and first introduced kettlebells to Siiri) the Overall Estonian Champ with 220 snatches and Jevgenija from Latvia, also first in the “under 53 kg” weight class with 122.  Santa, who was a direct competitor in my weight class using the 16 kg kettlebell was a fierce little sweetheart as well!  She received medals in each of her events: snatch & juggling, and she came in third place overall.  I hope to stay in touch with these lovely lady-lifters for a long time to come—and even possibly get them to come to the IC someday.  It was an honor to represent the ICKB Team as well as the AKC/WKC alongside all of these wonderful people.

-Maya