They sure breed them tough in the South. Not even a major earthquake and constant ‘baby’ quakes can stop the athletes of Christchurch from focusing on preparation for the NABBA/WFF Christchurch Grand Prix on 30 April. On the day, around 40 athletes converged on the Aurora Centre at Burnside High to celebrate their contest bodies, and for me, hope of an earth shattering free day.
Thankfully the only shattering came from the awesome loud crowd that turned out to clap and cheer their friends on as they competed on stage. There were some great conditioned athletes on stage to keep the crowd’s hands busy. In the WFF Masters Ms Athletic Class was a close duel between Judy Duggan and Julia Nash. Judy perhaps had the better condition but Julia just edged out Judy on mass.

Tara, Judy, Julia Lesley Judy Glamour girls
Lesley Rothera and Judy Casbolt was another great watch in the WFF Ms Athletic class. Both of these ladies were full and lean, and were great competition for each other. Judy could possibly have taken this with more posing practice. Lesley’s a seasoned athlete, she knows (and loves) the stage and had her posing down packed. Sometimes being confident with your posing is the difference between 1st and 2nd and this is a fine example. So Judy, you have an awesome figure so just keep practicing! Rebecca Sefton who won the NABBA Figure also showed a hard figure, would’ve been nice to see her go up against Lesley in the Overall but unfortunately they were in different categories.
Good to see the large turnout of girls in the Glamour Class. These girls did a great job to do 3 costume changes (bikini, sports clothes and gown) during the show. Many of them implemented a new health and fitness lifestyle to compet in this class and we hope they stick to it. However, there's only one winner and that went to Kalle Howlett.
WFF Athletic classes also provided a tough call for the judges. Significantly the class of 5 in the WFF class 3 was a close one, especially between Craig Smith and Rede Frisby. Once again this came down to posing, unfortunately not to Rede who in this case was the better poser. Rede held himself well and presented his physique a little better than Craig. Both Craig and Rede matched each other in leanness but perhaps Craig just had the little better symmetry. Craig looked fuller and it could be that Rede just didn’t quite eat enough to appear as full as Craig. Was a great watch!

Craig Rede Craig Lee Junior Men Kagan
The WFF class 2 was just as good but Lee Lynch, with his nice structure and full lean muscles, took the class out. He and Craig were up against each other for the WFF Athletic overall. Once again a close contest. Craig and Lee matched each other from the front, but once they turned around, Lee’s ripped back and hamstrings were just too good. Once again, it was also about the posing and Lee had this down packed. Would’ve loved to see Craig, Lee and Rede on stage in one line just to see how they all compared to each other. Hopefully we’ll see this in the future.
Notforgetting we saw some great potential in the Junior Men's class. Tough battle between (sorry don't know his name) and Kagan Orton who had some pretty big quads to fill following in his big brother Steve Orton's footsteps. Kagan showed good symmetry and plenty of room for more mass. Watch out Steve!
Lisa Bailey displayed a huge physique in the Open women’s physique class. The crowd loved her routine and display of her hard earned muscles. With 6 weeks until the NABBA Worlds in Brazil, Lisa says she’ll come down a few more kgs (from her current 70kg) to show a leaner body. We know she will.
Mark Anderson on the hand is rock hard and ready for the Worlds now. He looks the hardest, leanest and driest we’ve seen him in a long time which augurs well for his NABBA Worlds showing. But first he’s competing at the NABBA show on the Gold Coast in June, hopefully he can beat a few Aussies in the warm up to the Worlds.
The show ran like clockwork, beginning at around noon and finishing at 5pm. Show organizers Richard and Annette provided a great atmosphere for the athletes backstage and a supply of bananas and subway. All the athletes got a goodie bag which included products from the show sponsors so all in all a great day.
Plus, All the overall winners received $500 each in prizemoney!!!! No doubt we'll see more athletes next year with that sort of incentive.
Look forward to the next one!
Lisa, Go Figure
3 May 11
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