Haverhill's Siobhan Taylor wins British title to secure a Team GB debut in the European Master Equipped Bench Press Championships this summer

Siobhan Taylor admits she surprised herself at how a switch to a different type of powerlifting has led to her being selected for Team GB this summer.

The Haverhill resident, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships towards the end of last year, was back in action earlier this month.

Taylor competed in the British Equipped Bench Press Championships, in Ashington, Northumberland, and walked away with another title as her best lift of 140kg saw her to the M1 84+kg crown.

The 44-year-old went into 2023 with a target of being selected for Team GB, and will fulfil that dream in France later this year, albeit in an event that she had not expected.

“When I was in New Zealand (for the Commonwealth Championships), the guy that handled me for the competitions was a chap called Martin Marshall,” Taylor said.

“He’s the head coach for the equipped lifting team and what I had done up until now is what they call classic or raw.

“Martin would not allow me to buy him a drink when I was in New Zealand after handling me for both my comps, but he asked me to try out for the equipped team.

“So that’s what I did and I didn’t tell anyone about it because I was convinced I would effectively bomb out.

“I said I’d give it a go and I ended up with my top bench press of 140kg.

“It’s all come about really quickly. It’s a type of lifting I had never tried until January this year and it’s only because I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time with Martin.

“He’s allowed me to practice and train in the kit and given me loads of tips to help me be as successful as I have been.

“I’m really proud and very fortunate to be given the support to do something really different and it’s exciting. It’s just another branch of lifting.

“I’ve been invited to represent Great Britain this year as part of the equipped team because of that title.

“So later this year I’ll be sporting my red, white and blue kit instead of just the red and white kit to represent GB!”

Taylor, who works as an ITU nurse at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, is now planning to take a break from competitions, with her next event set to be when she makes her GB debut in the European Master Equipped Bench Press Championships, in France in early August.

“I was aiming to try out for the British Masters team this year, but because I’ve already been invited as part of the equipped team I have an opportunity to not have to go into competition training now to do that,” she said.

“It will be interesting to see what happens this year. There’s some women coming on the circuit with some very big lifts, so I’m going to have to work hard.

“To get into the GB team it came from almost like a favour I did for a friend because he’d helped me out and it just became something.

“Sometimes I think I surprise myself because I go thinking I’m not going to be very good and Martin’s like ‘no, you’ve been amazing and you’ve just taken to it really well.’

“Obviously the training I’ve done previously to get me to the point where I’m Commonwealth champion has transferred quite nicely.”

She added: “We’ll see what happens. I might come back with a European title!”