LACONIA — Four days a week, during the muted hours of morning, 15-year-old Celestyne D’Almeida’s alarm rings loudly in her bedroom. By 8 a.m. sharp, D’Almeida is in the Laconia High School weight training gym, working on her powerlifting reps, technique and skills.

Much to her own surprise, the rising sophomore recently tied the world powerlifting record in deadlift for her age and weight category (198+), lifting a whopping 380.7 pounds in front of a crowded LHS gymnasium.

That’s roughly the weight of a large female grizzly bear — and she barely broke a sweat.

“I thought it was going to be a very hard thing to do,” said D’Almeida, taking a break from the weight room to talk with The Laconia Daily Sun. “Once I got on the stage and everyone was cheering, it was not as hard as I thought it

See Full Page