SHAMOKIN DAM — The crowd exploded into cheers and clapping as 21-year-old Adam Catlin, the only Special Olympics athlete at an Army weightlifting meet Nov. 14 in Lancaster, made his fourth bench-press at 180 pounds. And the 105-pound Middleburg man thrust his fist in the air and grinned from ear to ear.
His lift put him so comfortably into the rankings of the top 100 lifters in the nation in his weight class that he’ll probably stay on the list for years, said his coach for the event, Tom Levering, of Ephrata.
Catlin already had the heart of the crowd when he bench-pressed 130 pounds on his first of four allowed attempts, Levering said.
Levering, a Special Olympics volunteer, was instrumental in getting Catlin to attend the meet. It was sponsored by the Army to raise money for the Fort Hood victims’ families. About 100 people were there to watch. Levering was “handing off” for Catlin because his regular coach, Brian Crowe, of Shamokin Dam, couldn’t be there that day.
In bench press, the person competing lays on his back on a bench. The weight to attempt is decided upon and added to the bar bells. They are then handed off to the competitor by the coach standing at the head of the bench. The competitor must lower the weight to the level of his chest and then push it back up until the arm is straight and elbows locked.
Catlin’s personal best, in practice, was 175 pounds. In competition at the Special Olympics at Villanova University the week before, he benched 160 pounds.
“On the first attempt you start low — something you know you can do with ease,” Levering said. On his second attempt, Catlin lifted 165 pounds, and the crowd cheered like someone had hit a home run, he said. Catlin’s dad, Chris Catlin, was there beaming with pride, he added.
After each lift, there was about a 10-minute break while the other competitors did their lifts, he explained. In those intervals, the athlete decides what weight to try next.
“For the third lift, I asked him, ‘Where do you want to go now? How do you feel?’ ” Levering said. “Chris, Adam and myself decided on 170 pounds.”
He did it kind of slow, but he got it, he said.
“Again, the crowd erupted, they just went crazy,” Levering said. Each time, the audience could readily see, as Catlin came to the bench, that he did not have the use of his legs. Catlin was born with cerebral palsy.
As the fourth and final try approached, Catlin said he would try 175 pounds.
“Then his dad looked at him and said, ‘Now Adam, you came here to set a record.’ ” Levering said. “Adam turned and faced me, looked at me with that big smile of his, and said, ‘OK, 180.’ ”
The announcer, Levering said, explained to the crowd, sitting in a semi-circle around the one bench press apparatus that all the participants used in turn, that if Catlin made that lift, it would most assuredly put him among the top 100 lifters in the nation. The list is compiled and published by Powerlifting USA magazine.
Levering said he was a bit worried when the crowd again erupted into roars and applause. He feared it might be too much pressure. He said he has seen powerful people fail in a lift under such pressure.
But Catlin’s lifts had been technically excellent so far. Levering handed off the bar bell.
“When the weight comes out of the rack, it gets deathly quiet,” he said. “Adam lowered the bar to his chest. When the bar starts moving up, the crowd gets vocal again. They’re saying ‘push, push, push.’ ”
There are three judges to see to it everything is performed properly. Catlin’s form was dead on.
When his elbows locked, the crowd went wild.
“Some people were already standing and the rest stood up and everyone cheered and clapped in unison. I was crying when I saw how happy he was. He had on an 8-inch smile and pumped his fist in the air and yelled a triumphant ‘Yeah’ like someone yells when they get a touchdown,” Levering said.
“It was great! It was as exciting and dramatic as it could be.”
That standing ovation was not over quickly, he added. It was prolonged. And his father was very happy and very proud.
Catlin said Wednesday, before practice, the experience went beyond his expectations.
He began his weight training about three years ago, when his brother-in-law, Mark Piermattei, a wrestling coach at Mifflinburg Area High School, suggested he might like it. He took to it immediately and hasn’t looked back.
He trains at Champs in Shamokin Dam with a number of other Special Olympics athletes and their coaches, Crowe, Mac McFadden and Bud Wolfe.
“He’s a terrific kid,” said Bill Jones, father of another member of the team there.
Chris Catlin said his son does pushups with a weight vest — Adam demonstrated putting it on and adding 20-pound weights until he was pushing up his own weight and 60 pounds more. It doesn’t look easy.
Catlin said he plays the movie “Rocky” to get pumped up before a meet, but Wolfe, from Mount Pleasant Mills, said, “The key to his success is that he works very, very hard.”
Levering said he deserves every accolade you can give him because he has earned it. “When you know what he has to go through on a daily basis because of his disability, to see him compete and do the best — what a feeling!”
Catlin, who graduated from Middleburg High School in 2007, recalls conquering the Tower of Terror at Disney World. “Once was enough, but I’d do it again,” he said.
When not training, Catlin works as a customer greeter at Wal-Mart in Hummels Wharf. He said he likes the work, except when customers get grouchy.
He likes to read, he said. At least PowerLifting USA anyway.
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