Brenna Kean’s journey to the Commonwealth Games will be a little bit different to most other athletes competing in Birmingham this year.
The 27-year-old Geelong paramedic will make her Commonwealth Games debut as one of 11 weightlifters picked to represent Australia at the games, competing in the 59 kilogram division.
But unlike most of her competitors, competing at the games hasn’t been a lifelong goal.
In fact, Brenna only competed in her first weightlifting event just over one year ago.
“Growing up in Ocean Grove, I was always a competitive person and competed in swimming for the Geelong Swimming Club,” she said.
“I’ve always loved my fitness and going to the gym and in 2018 a friend introduced me to CrossFit.
“I loved it and I found I felt more natural with the strength-based parts of it, and that’s how I got into weightlifting.
“I reached out to a friend who is a weightlifter for a bit of help with technique and started from there.”
Despite training out of Breakwater Athletics, Brenna reached out to Brisbane-based coach Miles Wydall before her first competition in March last year.
“It’s been a whirlwind 12 months,” she said.
“I had my first competition in March last year and I’ve done a few more competitions since then.
“After the first few competitions, my coach said to me that he felt I had potential to make the Commonwealth Games team.
“Having someone have that belief in you is an amazing motivator to keep going and pushing.”
Brenna said she knew she was around the mark of making the squad after strong results at her first international tournament in Singapore in February.
There she set a snatch personal best of 82kg and equalled her clean and jerk personal best of 108kg from the national championships in November.
Showing her quick rise in the sport, she had already improved her total personal best from 155kg to 190kg within the first year of her competitive career.
Brenna said the official announcement on Tuesday that she had made the team was “amazing”.
“It’s almost feels unbelievable that I’ve been picked,” she said.
“I knew I was around the mark but you never know until it’s official.
“It hasn’t been a long time for me, but a lot of hard work has gone into this and to see it paying off feels so good.”
Brenna said it had been a challenge to balance training with her busy schedule as a paramedic.
“[Weightlifting] and keeping fit has been a release for me with my job as a paramedic,” she said.
“It’s been a really busy and stressful couple of years for paramedics but to have that goal in front of me has made it easier to get into the gym and do the training, particularly after a couple of night shifts.”
Brenna said she was excited to compete at the Games, which are now less than 100 days away.
“I’m really looking forward to competing against the best in the world,” she said.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for me.
“Every competitor wants to win and I’m a very competitive person so I’d love to come home with the gold medal.
“But really, I don’t want to put a limit on myself with what I can achieve. I just want to worry about myself, do the best that I can and enjoy he experience.”
