I usually don't put too much pressure on myself for a meet - I almost always go with the attitude "do your best" but for this meet it was different.  My bench shirt got really tight and I couldn't touch with anything less than 315 lb so by default that became my opener (I've only benched it twice).  My second attempt was planned to be 325 (I missed it both times I attempted it in the gym) and my third attempt was going to be 336. 

My opener (314) went up beautifully and then my 2nd attempt (325) rolled away from me at the bottom of the lift just before I was about to touch.  Ross asked me "what next?" and I had no idea.  I took a couple seconds to think things through and Ross and I both decided on 330 for my 3rd attempt.  My reasoning was if I had to walk away with a certain number what would excite me, and it wasn't 325.  I was a little more aggressive with the 330 and a lot more patient at the bottom making sure I didn't let it roll away on me again and it flew at the press call, all the way up to lock out.  My highlight of the day was the few quiet seconds after the lift sitting in a chair by myself when it dawned on me that I did it; I set a goal just beyond my reach and gave it everything I had. They say life is made up of moments, well that is one of the top three at this point in my life.

There are always two parts to meets; the part you lift in and then the part where you see the meet through everybody else's eyes. 

Team Quest had a great day - Scott MacDiarmid had a huge smile on his face when he hit a 529 bench for his 2nd Canadian Record this year. Nathan Sawatis at 17 years old benched 501 and you could see his face light up as he was getting up off the bench. Jack MacDonald, an ex-Marine, experienced his first meet and set a Canadian Raw record with his 303 lb bench for his age class and Ahmeed Saad set a Canadian Raw record on his first attempt of 275 lb. 

Curd Hos of Hostyle Conditioning, after only 5 training sessions at Montreal Barbell to work on his shirt technique, also set a Canadian record with his 650 lb bench.  Curd came off the bench roaring with excitement and you couldn't help but be thrilled for him! 

Joanick Boilard, Metal Militia Montreal teammate, has worked hard on building his head strength and pushing his bench to the limit and got what he came for, Joanick hit 600 lbs winning him 1st place!  Alex Chiasson surpassed his original goal of 500 for this meet by hitting 512 and just missing 534, after less than two months of training with Metal Militia Montreal and only his 7th time in a bench shirt.  Chris Skoda hit 501 on his opener, first time opening in the 500's and just missed 550 lb.  Ross Saldan missed both his first and second attempts then upped his third attempt by 5 lbs and got 512 lb to stay in the meet. Mike Guay's day didn't turn out the way he planned but he handled himself like a pro and we are all very proud of him for giving it his all and accepting the day for what it was.  Gabe Guay, Mike's younger brother, competed in his first meet with Mike's help and benched an impressive 248 lb bench at 132 lbs bodyweight.