Classical student Ford sets state weight-lifting record

Five-hundred pounds. That’s the size of Anoki, the female polar bear in the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. It’s also the amount of weight lifted by Lynn Classical sophomore Buddy Ford at a Peabody gym last Saturday, and it just so happens to be a Massachusetts state record.Ford, the son of Lynn City Councilor Rick Ford, set the state mark in the deadlift in the 16-year-old category during a competition at Gym Warriors on Foster Street. He and three classmates from Classical were among those competing.”He put everything he had into it,” said gym owner Paul DeSimone. “The crowd got behind him. It was pretty good.”In a deadlift, the weight-lifter places the bar in front of him or her, stands straight up with the weight, and lifts it to waist level.”It was a shocker to everyone,” said Lynn resident John Flynn, who brought the four Classical students – one of whom was his son, Cody, a freshman – to the competition.The previous record of 450 was set by Nick Smith of Danvers in 2003.Other Classical students who participated included sophomores Daniel Omoreggie and Tyler Alicudo.”I would like to work with all the Classical kids to help them with their strength training techniques, which I did find flaws in,” DeSimone said. “But they did show a lot of emotional fortitude to show up big at the contest. The judges were blown away with how well behaved and mild mannered all the teenagers were.”Between 35 and 40 people competed on Saturday, and their ages ranged from nine (Flynn’s son J.J., the youngest in New England to compete) to 70. Seventy-five people watched, Flynn said.