The 2014 Sandra Wickham Fall Classic (SWFC) proved to be a coming out party for Squamish bodybuilder Amy Christian.
All the hours in the gym and the months of clean dieting and intense training all paid off for Christian, who took home first place in the bikini division at the SWFC in New Westminster on Nov. 8.
Christian said she had a few butterflies in her stomach before first hitting the stage, but was confident.
“I felt excited and nervous,” she said. “I had been preparing for this contest since April of 2014 and I was definitely feeling ready. I was really nervous the week leading up to the show, but the morning of I just felt ready. I woke up hungry for it and ready to go out there and get after it.”
She made first call outs, meaning she advanced to the evening show after prejudging in the morning.
“You walk out on stage in a line-up of other competitors in your height class,” she said. “You strike a quick pose centre stage, then go line up at back of the stage next to the other competitors. Then you’re called up numerically in groups of five where you pose front and back, and the judges score you. You then return to the line up at the back of the stage.”
Christian realized she had made the top five after being called out first in prejudging, but she had no idea where she might ultimately rank.
“From there, the judges make their first call outs,” she said. “They call out the top five girls from that class to compare against each other, so you know during prejudging if you are in top five. When I was called for first call outs I knew I had made top five and I felt like I had a good chance of placing top three. You do not find out where you placed until the evening show when the awards are handed out, so I had to wait to find out all day – it makes for a long day.”
The first place competitor is announced last, after the other four are introduced, so the waiting was even longer for Christian, but she said it’s a moment she will never forget.
“I was getting excited realizing I was still standing there with only two numbers left,” she said. “I wanted to place top five, so getting first was awesome, but I was honestly surprised. I was so excited to step up and collect my trophy I almost knocked the stage marshall over. I felt good and strong, but at the end of the day you are being judged subjectively and it’s anyone’s guess. I was proud to see my hard work come to fruition and actually obtain my goal, it was a proud moment.”
And Christian wasn’t the lone Squamish resident on stage. Britt Jonat and Angela Rajnforth also placed in the top five, with locals Jessica Lamarche, Kim Grewal and Sage Bigler also posting strong showings in their debut at the competition. Christian said Squamish represented on the stage.
“I was so proud of Squamish,” she said. “We cleaned up. Out of six Squamish competitors, three of us placed top five and all of us did our personal best. Everyone will be moving on to compete again, some of us regionally and some provincially. The fact that we are all still keen and hungry for it makes it a huge success.”
Christian earned a qualification to her choice of the 2015 or 2016 provincial competition with the win. She said she has chosen to compete at the 2015 event and has higher aspirations.
“ The ultimate goal is to become a national level competitor, so I must do well at provincials and then I will qualify for nationals,” she said. “I have started my off season meal and training plan, which consists of lots of good, clean, whole foods to fuel me. I am looking forward to skiing a lot and training hard over the winter, and going into provincials strong next year.”
Christian thanked her coach Dawn Allison, Club Flex Athletics, Sheena Harris from Blown Away Spa, Michelle O’Reilly at Buttercream Bikinis and the British Columbia Amateur Bodybuilding Association for their help in her journey.
She also mentioned that she is offering custom lifestyle coaching plans for training and nutrition. Anyone interested can contact her at amyleechristian@hotmail.
