Juniors Yangxing Ding, Misha Sweeney, and Ajay Qi share a commonality; a passion for lifting.

Ding and Sweeney have been lifting in the Olympic style for over two years, under the guidance of Jay Blais. Qi, on the other hand, has been focusing on power lifting.

“The difference between Olympic-style and power lifting in significant. Olympic-style focuses more on form and technique, while power lifting focuses on simpler lifts. I focus on deadlift, which is one of the simplest, most powerful lifts,” Qi said.

Qi, Sweeney, and Ding have thus far recruited a few other athletes willing to participate in a lifting team they hope to start next year. Juniors Rohan D’Souza, Elijah Zawatsky, and Daniel Mills have all expressed interest in joining the team.

Because of the difference in lifting styles, Qi, Ding, and Sweeney are not yet sure what kinds of competitions in which the team would participate. They would likely compete in tournaments open to anyone under the age of 21.

“We would like to compete against lifting teams from other GMC schools, but the lack of interest combined with the stringent weight classes make this unfeasible. Hopefully we will be able to find a few tournaments in which we could participate,” Ding said.

The lack of widespread interest throughout the lower classes also presents an obstacle in the way of forming a team. With all those interested being 2015-2016 seniors, the team would be in jeopardy of disbanding after the first year.

“We definitely need to garner support from the lower classes. I’m hoping sophomore Jannan Sivaruban will keep the team alive after we leave,” Sweeney said.