Haverhill resident and ITU nurse Siobhan Taylor set for England debut in Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships

Siobhan Taylor is hoping for a result Haverhill can be proud of when she competes in the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in New Zealand later this month.

The Haverhill resident will be heading Down Under on Tuesday ahead of representing England for the first time in the championships, which are being held at the Due Drop Events Centre, in Auckland, from November 28 to December 4.

Taylor was selected for the England squad after retaining her M1 84+kg title in the All England Powerlifting Championships earlier this year, which was her third consecutive victory in the national event.

And the 44-year-old, who works as an ITU nurse at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, has set her sights on returning home with a medal in her possession.

“I’m just thrilled to be chosen to represent England,” she said.

“Just being able to go out there and be on the platform is amazing.

“It’s my first time representing England and this will be my first international competition. I said one day it would be really cool to represent your country four years ago and here I am only weeks away from realising that dream.

“It’s not something that everyone gets a chance to do. I’m very nervous, but I’m very excited as well.

“Nobody likes to put themselves out there unless it doesn’t come true, but I’m very much hoping to come home with a medal. It’s just a case of what colour.

“My numbers are pretty good and I’ve had a look at who I’m competing against.

“Providing I have a good day I can definitely be on the podium, it’s just how good that day looks.

“The ultimate goal is to come back as Commonwealth champion and I’m aiming for a British record, which kind of feels like it’s high in the sky when I’m saying it out loud. I’m just chuffed to have been selected.

“I’m hoping I can make my local community proud and come back with a result Haverhill can be proud of.”

It has been a meteoric rise in the world of powerlifting for mum of two Taylor, with her first competition only dating as far back as August of 2017.

Fast forward five years and the three-time national champion, who trains three times a week between Real Bodies Gym, in Haverhill, and Point Blank Gym, in Cambridge, under trainer Rhett Milton-Barnes, is preparing to make her England debut.

“I was a junior staff nurse at Addenbrooke’s at the time and ended up with an injury,” Taylor said.

“One of the physiotherapists I was working with recommended somebody at Real Bodies who could teach me how to lift and build my core, and then I would never have a problem with my back again.

“That’s how I kind of fell into powerlifting. It was completely by accident and purely through trying to keep me fit enough to do my job.

“Josh Constable, one of the PTs at Real Bodies, was training to do powerlifting and I saw him doing lifts in the gym.

“He asked me if I wanted to go to a competition and watch and I didn’t get through half of the competition before I turned to Josh and I said I really wanted to have a go at this.

“That was in January and my first competition was in August of that year and I qualified for the nationals.

“I did my first national competition in October and that was five years ago now.

“I fell into it by accident and I’ve found something that I love doing and I’m kind of good at.

“We’ve been through a lot the last couple of years as nurses with Covid and working in ITU, which has been horrific.

“To get to this point and have people in the community supporting me to do powerlifting has kept me sane during that time.”