Hannah Crymble swapped the uneven bars of the gymnastics arena for a weightlifting bar and has been rewarded by qualifying to represent Northern Ireland at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
The 26-year-old nurse from Newtownards will compete in the 59kg weight category in Birmingham.
“It is quite exciting, it is not something I thought I would ever be doing and I’m looking forward to the whole experience and seeing how I get on, it is a dream come,” commented Crymble.
Read more: Antrim teenager wins bronze at British Karate Federation championships in Leicester
Gymnastics was the first sport Crymble excelled at competing internationally.
“I was with the Rathgael club in Bangor. I started off in artistic gymnastics, but I move to acrobatic, it is called a trio so there were three off us," she added.
“I represented Northern Ireland, but it was always at a lower level and not the level that I am now in weightlifting.
“I just kind of grew out of gymnastics. I stopped when I was 17 years old, I just got to a level where I wasn’t going to progress any more and I just wanted to focus on school a bit more.
“I started CrossFit then I made the switch from that to weightlifting, I started doing competitions and now I’m here.
“Switching from CrossFit to weightlifting seems quite popular. I think it is because there is weightlifting in the CrossFit, I think people who release that they are quite good at weightlifting decide to give it a go competitively.
“I think this is only my fourth year weightlifting, so I am relatively new to the sport. I need to be competing because I lost a couple of years of competitions due to Covid.
“I think my competition was the Dublin Open in 2018. It went okay, I snatched 60kg and clean and jerked 76kg.”
Weightlifting suits Crymble’s personality.
“I’m naturally a very competitive person," she says.
"I think the whole discipline and technical side of it I really enjoy the work that has to go into it and then constantly chasing kilo after kilo really suits my personality and I am always wanting a wee bit more."
To the untrained eye weightlifting is just about who can thrust the heaviest weight above their head but there are a lot of tactics and strategy to the sport, as Crymble explained: “It is a very technically sport which a lot of people don’t realise and I didn’t even realise when I first started them.
"My coach was stripping all this weight back, it was empty bars and really light weights to really nail the technique.
“Your lifts just start to skyrocket and then once you get to a certain level the likes of recovery and nutrition plays a massive part in to how you are performing in the gym.”
Self-discipline also plays a bit part in weightlifting but for Crymble the sacrifices are worth it.
“Coming up to competition I would be very disciplined," she said.
"I would say no to going out for dinner, missing friends' birthdays or family gathering because I have seen how much difference getting the nutrition 100% right makes in the gym.
“Even just going out for dinner that one night does really chance it and you need to stay 100% disciplined just to get the results you want, at the end of the day it is only temporary.”
Crymble will be in competitive action before arriving in Birmingham.
“I have got the European Championships at the end of May for Ireland in Albania, it will be my first time lifting for them so I’m really looking forward to that," she said.
“I think it will give me a really good base of experience going into Birmingham.”
It just not the competition that Crymble wants to savour at the Commonwealth Games.
“I’m looking forward to the whole experience," she added.
"Getting to meet the other athletes and just seeing what it is actually like being there. It is something that I have always watched on television so it will be exciting to be a part of it and obviously get to lift with some of the best athletes in the sport.
“Never say never for medals. I am in quite a competitive weight class but I’m definitely hoping for a personal best weight total.”
Read more: Netball NI captain Caroline O'Hanlon facing crunch time with club and country
Read more: Commonwealth Games 2022: Jing Yi Graham's remarkable journey continues
Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.
