The power lifting competition saw Hamish win first place in the under 125kg class with some huge lifts.

Hamish lifted 200kg in the squat, bench pressed 160kg and deadlifted 277.5kg to win gold in his class. While he missed out on his personal goal of lifting 170kg in his three attempts on the bench press, his recorded 160kg lift won him the category.

The 22 year-old said he first got into powerlifting when he was 19, but has known about and been interested in the niche sport since he started going to the gym regularly

Hamish said that when COVID-19 came around he looked into the sport more seriously.

This has been the third time that he has gone to Orange for the competition, traditionally held on Halloween, but was changed to February 14 this year.

Although he has gone to the event three times, this is only the second time Hamish has competed, saying that he just got to know what the competition was like before entering.

"It's an incredible atmosphere and incredible to watch."

When Hamish first competed in April of last year, he was in the under 140kg weight category, but said he was a bit leaner and stronger for this year's competition - losing 15kg.

Hamish said that his lifts did suffer when he went down a weight bracket, but not by very much.

Although his deadlift and squats went down, Hamish said he was able to improve his bench press.

Time and practise is a key to powerlifting, Hamish said, along with a bit of an idea of what you're doing.

Hamish said his progress went a lot quicker after he began being coached by Australian powerlifter Rhyss Keane.

Hamish said with his coach in his corner everything comes more clear in form and progress.

He's come a long way since he starting lifting weights, with squatting and bench pressing under 100kg and deadlifting 120kg when first started strength training at 19.

Next up on the schedule for him is the WPRF New South Wales Outback Titles on May 21 - 22 at Orange.