Bryce Krawczyk put together an incredible accomplishment earlier this month.

The Moose Jaw born powerlifter broke the world record in the 105-kilogram weight class with a deadlift of 388-kilograms, or just over 855 pounds, during the 2017 IPF World Open Powerlifting Championships in the Czech Republic.

Krawczyk — who now resides in Calgary where he owns his own gym, Calgary Barbell — said that the celebration of the record was a bit delayed, but it felt great when it was finally confirmed.

“Initially the lift was turned down, but then overturned by a secondary panel of judges, so it was pretty sweet when I heard that it had been overturned, but it was after the fact, after I’d already accepted that it didn’t count,” he explained.  “It was super exciting, but it was a delayed reaction.”

The lift helped Krawczyk finish in ninth place overall at the world championship, which outperformed his 11th ranking entering the event.

The 105kg class is one of the more competitive classes at the event with 23 lifters taking part in that class, which was five more than the next largest class.  Krawczyk finished with a 985.5 total after posting a 372.5kg squat, a 225kg bench press and the record-setting deadlift.  The winner was Dmytro Semenenko out of the Ukraine with a total of 1090.5.

Krawczyk said he knew the competition was going to be stiff and he’s pleased with how he was able to perform.

“I had previously pulled 390 kilos in a competition previously, but all things considered with travel time, cutting weight and a lot of external stressors, I was very happy to be able to have the results that I did,” he said.

Since taking up the sport of powerlifting, Krawczyk has excelled quickly, picking up a silver medal at the equipped world championship in 2015 and now a top-10 finish at the open worlds.

He said that he never expected to see the success that he’s had.

“When I first stepped on the platform, it was just something to do, I had trained for a while and got sick of training just for the sake of training,” he said.  “I got a big endorphin rush and a high off of the competition and the way that things happen on competition day was really exhilarating and that drew me in.

“Within a couple of years, I won my first provincial championship and it dawned on me that I may have some natural ability in this and I wanted to see how far I could take it.”

Krawczyk spent about 20 hours per week in the gym training for this trip to worlds and he expects a busy year ahead in 2018.

 “The national championships are actually going to be hosted here in Calgary in February and then I received an invite to compete at the Arnold Sports Festival in both the deadlift and grand prix, so that will be a big deal,” he said.  “Classic Worlds will also be hosted in Calgary and from there, potentially Sweden for another equipped championships next November.”

Things aren’t going to be slowing down anytime soon for the former Moose Jaw resident.

There was a number of other local lifters that took part in the championship in the Czech Republic earlier this month.

Rhaea Stinn finished third overall in the women’s 72kg class with a total of 620.27.  She had a squat of 252.5kg, a deadlift of 172.5 and a deadlift of 210.

Ryan Stinn came in sixth in the men’s 120+ class with a total of 548.15.  He posted a squat of 385kg, a bench press of 295 and a deadlift of 305.

Aaron Ziffle was eighth in the men’s 93kg class with a total of 495.26 after putting up a squat of 307.5kg, a bench press of 230 and a deadlift of 250.

Click here for the full results.