As a contortionist for the circus, Rachel Siemens understood the physical demands meant a potentially short career. However, it was shortened even earlier by an injury and so she chose to study kinesiology at UVIC.

Rachel became a self-described gym rat and passionate about Olympic Weightlifting. Slowly she worked her way up the Canadian ranks and used Cloud-funding to compete at the World University Games in Russia. There, she saw years of training boil down to six short minutes (three attempts at “Snatch” and three at “Clean & Jerk”) judged purely on technique and amount of weight lifted.

With new goals and her coaches wisdom, she is fighting to make the National Team requiring a 91+kg (200lbs) Snatch and a 115+kg (254lbs) Clean & Jerk. For Siemens, Weightlifting is meditation; harnessing her inner strength and moving passed personal issues she is able to let it all go.

Rachel inspires others with her blog and coaching while focusing on attending the Commonwealth Games 2014.