Reiss brings home three golds from Senior Games
Any time that an athlete is able to prove themselves the best amongst all competitors in their field, it is a great accomplishment. But when a single athlete proves themselves superior in three individual categories, it means just a little bit more.
Dale Anne Reiss is one of those athletes.
The part-time Sanibel resident, competing on the first day of the 2009 Florida Senior Games, returned to the island with three gold medals won during the games’ powerlifting competition.
“My trainer, Laurie Curry, thought going to the games and competing would be a better motivator for me,” said Reiss, 62. “Usually, training is pretty boring, so we set this as a goal to work towards.”
The 18th Annual Florida Senior Games, held at various Lee County venues over nine days, welcomed more than 1,500 athletes aged 50 and older in competitions including running, racewalking, billiards, tennis, racquetball, shuffleboard, basketball shooting, cycling, golf and pickleball, among others.
Staged on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University on Dec. 5, Reiss lifted 40.0 kilograms – or 88 pounds, 2.95 ounces – in the Female Masters 60-64 Raw Bench Press division to earn her first gold medal.
Her second victory of the games came in the Raw Deadlift competition, also held on Saturday. Reiss lifted 65.0 kilograms – or 143 pounds, 4.80 ounces – to best all Female Masters 60-64 division.
Her combined lifts totaling 105.0 kilograms – or 231 pounds, 7.76 ounces – also topped her age group, adding another gold medal to her Olympian efforts.
“I did some working out up north,” said the 10-year island snowbird, who also keeps a home in New York. “But after I came back down here at the end of October, we really began to focus on my training.”
Reiss, who is already planning to defend her titles at next year’s Florida Senior Games, which will be based again in Cape Coral from Dec. 4-12, 2010, explained that she not only did it for her own personal fitness but for fun as well.
“I really enjoyed it,” she said. “It’s a fun thing to do. I wished more people on the islands would get involved with it. It was a real kick.”
Her personal goal next year is to bench press her weight… although she stopped short of revealing that figure.
“I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to do it, but that’s my goal,” Reiss added.