Trinity Barbell Club has been approved as a sports club under Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC). The approval came after three years with provisional club status.
To achieve full accreditation as an official sports club, a club must demonstrate that they have been an active club for this length of time. Speaking to The University Times, this year’s captain Isla Hoe said that she was “very excited” and that this is a “really exciting time for the club”.
Trinity Barbell Club now meets the criteria for an official sports club, having been founded in 2014 by a group of students “with the hope of being recognised as a club in three years time”, explained Hoe. Recognition from DUCAC will afford them funding, as well as the use of the college’s gym.
“Three years ago we never thought this was going to happen. This was before there was a massive interest in weightlifting in Ireland”, said Hoe. The fourth-year computer and electronic engineering student commended the work of her predecessors, last year’s captain Isabel Brown, who “did an amazing job last year as captain and really pushing the club forward”, and founding captain Luke Mulcahy who Hoe said was “the reason” the club “exists”.
Previously, the club had no fixed venue to train in, and used the Raw Gym in Sandymount, along with other gyms. The club currently has well over 120 members and gathered around 70 signups during Freshers’ Week, Hoe explained.
The club has enjoyed notable successes in recent times. Athletes from the club, including powerlifters and Olympic lifters, have competed at intervarsity level every year since the club’s foundation. In addition, while representing the club, fourth-year Irish and French student Aoife O’Sullivan set a new Irish record for the deadlift in the 63kg junior division in Denmark earlier this year.
Speaking to The University Times in March, club members noted the emphasis they seeks to place on inclusivity. In a traditionally male-dominated sport, last year’s captain Isabel Brown described the club as “an empowering environment for girls who might be intimidated to lift weights”. “Everyone in the club just wants to see each other improve”, she stated.
