Blyth woman earns two UFE golds, one bronze - May 9, 2019
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
Blyth’s Carla Pawitch earned two gold Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE) medals and one bronze over the weekend in Cobourg, but her professional card still eludes her.
Pawitch competed in her first event in 2017 and has been steadily improving and adjusting her goals accordingly ever since. Over the weekend in Cobourg, Pawitch earned gold medals in the fitness model and fitness categories for the 35-45 age division and a bronze medal finish overall in the fitness model category.
The overall bronze finish, Pawitch said in an interview with The Citizen, was especially rewarding, considering she was up against women who could be in their teens all the way up to their 40s.
Pawitch has been working doggedly for the past two years to whip her body into shape for the fitness model competitions, which demand intense work ethic and discipline.
In 2017, Pawitch said she would typically wake up at 5 a.m. and work out between three and four hours per day, all while holding a full-time job, keeping a home and raising several children.
Because of the intense requirements and lifestyle Pawitch has been living for the past two years, she said it was especially rewarding to come back from the competition with some medals around her neck, especially those of the gold variety.
While the path has never been easy for Pawitch, she said this year’s lead-up to the event was especially challenging due to an illness that landed her in and out of the hospital for the better part of six weeks.
Because of that time away from training, the journey was made much more difficult and that led to a number of very serious conversations between Pawitch and her coach about her hanging it up this time around.
However, Pawitch said she was always raised to finish whatever she started and, while it was difficult at times, she soldiered on and worked towards last weekend’s event.
For Pawitch, there is very little rest, as she’s already working towards her next event, which is in June at the national level, rather than the provincial level.
Because of Pawitch’s gold medal finishes, she earned national competition status for the next two years, so she looks forward to taking a break from the UFE events and focusing on expanding her national profile. She expects she won’t compete in another UFE event until 2021.
To work on her performance, she eagerly awaits the judges’ report from the weekend’s event. She placed third overall in the event over the weekend, but only the event’s top performer earned her professional card. Pawitch has been told, however, that just 0.4 points separated her in third place from the eventual overall winner.
Pawitch anticipates that the report will be a road map to success and point out areas in which she could improve for a better score.