Dakota Weightlifting Club

Member Spotlight ✨

Meet Bryan

Bryan first came to Olympic weightlifting over 20 years ago from track and field. He was the throws coach for the Winnipeg Optimist Track and Field Club and wanted to get his throwers involved in Olympic weightlifting as part of their training. Bryan had them join a local club and I figured if they were lifting, he should do it too. Bryan immediately fell in love with Olympic lifting, switched sports and has never looked back.

Since then, Bryan has competed in numerous competitions. Notably, He has competed in several Canadian Masters Championships, two Pan-Am Masters Championships and three Western Canadian Senior Championships. The best total Bryan ever achieved was 211kg with a 101kg sn**ch and a 110kg clean and jerk!

In 2010 Bryan's lifting took a detour. He was hit by a car while riding his bike. He tore up his left shoulder completely. This is when Bryan met Terry Hadlow. His buddy Doug Sinclair knew about his shoulder injury and suggested he go see Terry as he was great at rehabbing lifters. Bryan went and met with Terry and explained his situation. Terry immediately had Bryan start rehab work. In fact, he had Bryan working on his shoulder right up to the day before his first surgery. After his second surgery and 6 months in a sling, Terry had Bryan back working in the gym. Within a short time Bryan was doing sn**ches and clean and jerks again. After a few years his lifts were good enough to qualify for Pan-Am Masters Championships in 2014. He was back doing the sport he loved and enjoyed.

It should be noted that both of Bryan's surgeons told him he would never lift overhead again. Bryan didn't buy it and neither did Terry. No one was going to tell Bryan he couldn't do the sport he oved. Bryan worked his butt off getting back in shape and has been lifting and competing ever since..

In sum, Bryan's 20 year journey in Olympic lifting has been his therapy, both mental and physical.

Member Spotlight
Meet Ana!
Ana has been lifting for 8 years in total, with the last 4 being specifically Olympic lifting focussed.

Ana found weightlifting through CrossFit when she was 17. It started out with attending CrossFit weightlifting classes and over time she started to enjoy weightlifting enough to join a club and dedicate herself to the sport full time.

Ana has won 3x overall best lifter, has won every local meet she has competed in, and took second place in the 81kg class at the 2024 Canadian Senior Nationals!

Ana hopes to achieve the international level 1 total for her weight class. One step at a time.

Ana is a rare creature, as a former track and Xcountry athlete, Ana is a weightlifter who enjoys RUNNING! 🏃

Ana is a plumber, Manitoba’s strongest woman and 2x Manitoba grip sport champion!

Ana will be representing Manitoba this month at Canadian Senior Nationals in La Prairie, QB on May 17th (7pm Eastern time, 6pm WPG time) live stream to follow.

GOOD LUCK ANA 🏋️

Meet Denise!
Denise Started CrossFit in 2013 to improve her competitive Ultimate game- Denise played competitively for 20 years.

She Started training with Dakota weightlifting in 2016 after attending an introductory Olympic meet at her CrossFit gym. Denise has found the sport of Olympic weightlifting humbling and the sport has helped her develop a mindset and fortitude to continue to compete in life and training.

Denise suffered a broken arm in February 2026 and has been a champion in the gym showing that movement through recovery is possible and necessary. Listening to her body, her medical team, and Coach Terry, Denise has inspired all of the Team Dakota lifters to push what’s possible every day.

Accomplishments:
Canadian Masters Nationals 2022 Moncton, New Brunswick (placed 1st).
IWF World Masters Las Vegas 2025 (placed 4th).

Hopes and Dreams: to compete in another World Championship. To continue to be strong and resilient. To continue to grow in confidence and believe in herself always. To be a lifelong learner. To keep showing up.

Denise is a Cardiac nurse at St. Boniface hospital, married, mother of two. Hobbies are numerous- back country canoeing, hiking, adventure racing, cross country skiing, Disc golf, gardening, cooking, wool felting.

Member spotlight
Meet Linsey!
Linsey started training in 2016, joining a bootcamp and then quickly transitioning to CrossFit. After several years and many CrossFit competitions, Linsey realized that her love of Olympic weightlifting was what kept her coming back day after day.

She started taking lifting seriously when she joined Norak in 2019. After a good run with Norak CrossFit, and eventually Norak Weightlifting, the gym closed their doors in 2025 and Linsey made the decision to join Dakota Weightlifting to learn from the best, Coach Terry Hadlow.

Linsey has represented Manitoba at 3 Canadian masters championships. She has also represented Canada on the international stage at World Masters Championships in 2022 (placing 4th) and Pan American Championships in 2025 (placing first 🥇).

Linsey has been battling injuries for the better part of 2025 and all of 2026 so far. She is Working hard to come back stronger and better than ever. She is taking this time to fine tune her technique and trying to see this for the opportunity it is to take a big step back in order to take even bigger steps forward.

Linsey’s goal is to compete at Masters Nationals, Pan Americans and Worlds all in the same calendar year!

Linsey is a teacher in Winnipeg’s North End, passionate about inspiring a love of movement in her students. She enjoys watching Seahawks games with her husband, visiting Seattle and loves Harry Potter 🤓

📣We have exciting news to share!📣

We are excited to announce that we are moving to a new training location - 1104 Chevrier Blvd

🗓️ New Training Schedule:
Tuesday & Thursday 6:30-8:30pm
Saturday 11-1

📧 Send us a DM or visit the Dakota website for more information

The Dakota team had a blast this weekend at the 2026 Coupe du Voyageur. The team had a great showing and results taking home both best male and female lifters! Results are now live on the MWA website. Thanks to and all the volunteers for hosting such a great event!

We are MOVING TO A NEW LOCATION!

Where: Prairie Crossfit 1104 Chevrier Blvd
When: Sunday Feb 8 at 10am

If you are able to help move please come to 51 Heaton Ave at 10:00am to help load up the truck. Many hands make short work. We anticipate it will take 2-3 hours for the full move.

New Training Schedule at PCF (effective Tuesday Feb 10)
Tuesday/Thursday 6:30-8:30pm
Saturday 11-1

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
(For English press “see translation”)
Voici Daniel et Natasha ! Ce couple s’entraîne en haltérophilie avec Dakota depuis 5 ans (Daniel) et 3 ans (Natasha). Daniel a commencé l’haltérophilie dans la trentaine après avoir vu l’entraîneur Terry faire une présentation lors d’un séminaire. Intrigué, il a approfondi ses recherches sur le sport de l’haltérophilie olympique et a su que c’était la voie à suivre pour se remettre en forme.

Daniel a ensuite encouragé Natasha à se joindre à lui et, grâce à une organisation réfléchie pour la garde des enfants, elle a pu l’accompagner au gym et transformer cela en leur « soirée date-night » hebdomadaire. Deux oiseaux avec une pierre ! Bien que Natasha ait joué au soccer toute sa vie, l’haltérophilie lui était totalement étrangère. Néanmoins, elle y a vu un formidable nouveau défi à relever à la fin de la trentaine et une façon de montrer à leurs trois enfants qu’il est toujours possible d’apprendre et d’essayer de nouvelles choses ! Elle a rapidement appris à aimer ce sport, particulièrement la camaraderie au gym.
Daniel est surintendant en construction, mari et papa de trois enfants extraordinaires ! Selon lui, il est une meilleure version de lui-même pour ses enfants lorsqu’il prend le temps de s’occuper de lui. Daniel aime partager la barre avec d’autres haltérophiles, dont son « mancrush » !

Natasha travaille comme psychologue scolaire. L’haltérophilie a non seulement augmenté sa force et sa mobilité, mais a aussi grandement amélioré ses problèmes de posture liés au travail à l’ordinateur!
Natasha et Daniel adorent savourer des nouilles après leur session d’entraînement chez Aroma Bistro, à la Fourche !�Venez les voir lors de la prochaine compétition MWA, La Coupe du Voyageur, le 7 février !

Les levées de Daniel :�Arraché : 110 kg�Épaulé-jeté : 140 kg�Objectif : se qualifier pour les Championnats du monde

Les levées de Natasha :�Arraché : 42 kg�Épaulé-jeté : 58 kg�Objectif : total de 100 kg en compétition�Objectif à long terme : se qualifier pour les Championnats du monde

Member Spotlight
Meet Julien

Julien has been lifting for about three and a half years

Julien started lifting after the pandemic just trying to come back to exercise and sports. Like many of us, he had lost strength, power, and athleticism. He was sore after every volleyball game for the duration of the season. This was not a result of old age, this was a severe decrease in strength and conditioning. A highschool colleague told Julien about the magic of Olympic weightlifting a couple of years prior. It was time to put it to the test. Needless to say, the payoff completely exceeded his expectations!

Julien has hit all his lifting goals except for a bodyweight sn**ch (approx 105kg). This summer he was executing a 100kg sn**ch, 120kg clean and a back squat at 182kg (400lbs)

Julien is competing at his first Olympic weightlifting meet in February and Looking for his first medal in 2026! Hoping for a 220kg total in competition

Julien hopes To stay strong, conditioned and fit for his age, for the rest of his life!

Julien is a Husband, father of 2, business owner and a recreational volleyball player. Olympic lifting has brought balance and resiliency to his life making everything more enjoyable. Every ache, strain and pain has been completly worth it.

Meet Chris

Chris is 53 and has been lifting for almost 3 years.

He started lifting to improve his overall strength and conditioning and get more of a "full body" workout.

Chris instantly fell in love with Olympic lifting and most of his spare time is dedicated to training and improving his technique.

Within 2 years of training, Chris qualified for his first National and International competitions taking home silver at both events.

Chris’ goal is to one day make the podium at the World Masters Championships. What he loves the most about competing is the support and comradery between everyone involved. No matter what country or club someone is from, everyone supports each other.

This month Chris is headed to Daytona Florida to compete at the UMWF World Masters Weightlifting Championships! Good luck Chris!

Fun fact: Olympic lifting has greatly improved Chris’ golf game! ⛳️