Wānaka powerlifter Romy Guichard has returned from the New Zealand Powerlifting Federation Nationals with a string of personal bests, multiple national records, and the overall title for her class.

The 20-year-old achieved 185.5kg in the squat, 105.5kg in the bench, and 210kg in the deadlift at last weekend’s competition.

Each of these results broke the national records in Romy’s class (under 23 and under 76 kilo) - “all records that were my own records”, she said.

Her results also broke Commonwealth and Oceania records, although unofficially, as the records have to be set at Commonwealth or Oceania events to be considered ‘official’.

The combined weight of Romy’s lifts topped 500kg, which was one of her goals for the nationals, alongside winning the national title for her class.

They are remarkable achievements for someone still in the early stages of their career - and signs of even bigger things to come.

Romy told the Wānaka App she was happy with the results, but she was “pretty disappointed” to miss out on her third goal for the competition - winning the title for overall junior lifter across all weight classes.

The title is awarded based on GL points, a formula that compares lifters across different weight classes, making it especially competitive.

Romy narrowly missed out on this title by a single point - but this has only fuelled her determination for her next competition, the 2025 World Junior Classic Powerlifting Championships in Costa Rica in late August.

Romy took up powerlifting fewer than three years ago but she fell in love with the sport right immediately and she has rocketed through the national and international ranks.

She has two more years competing as a junior before she will move into the open class.

“I want to stay in the sport long term,” Romy said.

PHOTO: Supplied