Pic of the Month: June

May's Pic of the Month poll turned out to be a two-lady race between Megan Elizabeth Colvin's body art, and the muscle pits of Britain's Rosie Harte.



Rosie, with 44% of the votes, came out the winner.

And so to our five June nominees.

Check them out, follow the link at the bottom, and vote with a single click.

SARAH FECHTER: MUSCLE BEAUTY



I've made no secret of my admiration for this gorgeous hunk of woman since she (belatedly) came to my attention earlier in the year (see FMS passim). Her latest (to be leaked to the forums, anyway) work with HD Physiques has done nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. Look how thick she is below the knee, the definition all over her mouth-watering midriff, those feel-me-up shoulders, and best of all those lick-this-way veins on her biceps... And on top of all that - the smile! Swooonarama!!!

ALINA POPA: NATURE'S MAJESTY



Taken, I believe, towards the end of May on the Manitou Incline in the Colorado Rockies, Alina may not yet be ready to come back and compete for the biggest titles, but there's no doubt she still adds outstanding (if not 100% "natural") beauty to any area she's in. Imagine going on a hike and being confronted with Alina in shorts, boots and sports bra on the trail! Don't know about you, but I reckon I'd float up that incline (albeit with my tongue hanging out and my eyes bulging out of their sockets) if I had Alina to follow - and if I'd already been up, I'd be only too happy to go up again.

CAIT (aka LILPOWERBUILDER): IN MY DEFENCE, YOUR HONOUR



She only started Crossfit "a few years ago", but one thing has led to another and now "Cait" is, as her Instagram moniker suggests, a Powerlifter and Bodybuilder (NPC Physique) as well as being a fitness coach. Through fitness I have found a whole new me, she says. The me that I was meant to be. Those boots and shorts were meant to be with those glutes and legs for sure. A picture old C. Moore would show to the jury?!

BRIE EUBANKS: GIFTED



Just when I thought her Brieness had consigned herself to the murkier parts of the female muscle world and I'd only ever see her now in blurry webcam and snapchat clips getting up to all sorts of naughtiness (with and without her hubby), she pops up on the forums with a reminder of just what a thoroughly gifted woman she is. For once, I'm not focusing on the muscles. I can't stop looking at it. It's just so long, so BIG!

SHANNON SEELEY: SHAPE OF A WOMAN



Having recently competed with distinction at the NPC Jr. USAs, Shannon is expected to turn pro at some stage later in the year. Meanwhile, her schmotography work (not to mention some of her topless cam treats that are appearing in those murky parts) have done plenty to bring her to front and centre of the collective female muscle lovin' consciousness. I could have chosen any of a number of classy shots of her (or indeed a still from one of those cam shows), but in the end, I found I had a very soft hard spot for this rather arty silhouette. Now that's what a woman is supposed to look like!

Tough choice or easy call?

Take your pick and vote HERE

We'll post the winner next month when we invite you to vote for July's best.

Enjoy! And thanks in advance for voting!

Pic of the Month: May

First things first, our April Pic of the Month winner is...



Valentina Mishina's Meat Feast

By some distance too, with 47% of all the votes.

Поздравления to Valentina, our first ever Pic of the Month winner.

And so to this month's five.

Check them out then follow the link at the bottom to vote with a single click.

AMY NEELANDS: WITNESS THE THICKNESS



She has a private IG account (I'm still hoping to be accepted as follower #320), so there's not much I can tell you about Amy other than that she describes herself as a "giant foody", "photographer" and "bodybuilder" in that order. She also says she is a "rock & roll, hillbilly delux with a nice pick 'em up truck!" Some of which I understand. Anyway, none of that hits the nail on the head like one forum poster did in his comment on the above pic: Absolutely gorgeous meaty tattooed beast! Indeed.

MIREA HENRIQUEZ: FULLY PUMPED



Right now, with her next contest (Olympia Amateur Spain) fast approaching, Dutch Physique star Mirea is posting a truly awe-inspiring pic per day - sometimes several. We had to choose one, so we did - partly because it gives the viewer such a great angle from which to fully appreciate the thickness of her pecs, partly because of the wide, intense eyes, and partly because of those veins exploding all over her forehead.

ROSIE HARTE: (MUSCLE) PIT LICKIN' GOOD



Just over a year ago, ol' Swell here was confessing his sthenolagnia had taken a somewhat maschalagniacal turn, ie. I was into "muscle pits". Not armpits as such, but something better, MUCH better - a confluence of muscle, a glorious meeting of bicep, delt, lat and pec. Rosie seems to have brought out the feeling again. I'm even enjoying deluding myself that Rosie read that post then made this picture just for me!

MEGAN ELIZABETH COLVIN: BODY ART



First of all, let me say that I think Megan, aka "Miss Mightyy Mouse" is absolutely gorgeous, and she has great hair. Nevertheless, this upper body close-up literally made me gasp when I first saw it last week, so if you want to check how gorgeous she is and see her magnificent mane for yourself, you'll have to check her Instagram. Before you do though, take a very good gander at those hard abs, those veiny (and thrillingly pointy) pecs, and last but not least those mightyy traps and shoulders... Megan is doing an amazing job at filling the hole in my life left by Sierra Mangus' step back from the limelight. What's that? The tats are "too much", are they? Well, fine. It's your loss.

TOKS MACAULAY: CONTEST READY



I'm no expert, but I doubt very much this particular pic is 100% natural, but anyway, WOW! Judging by the posing suit (and the shredz), Toks was not about to go on stage at a contest with any IFBB links, and all the better for it - why shouldn't the ladies display all the muscles they've worked so hard for, especially ones that look so good?

Choose your favourite then go HERE to vote.

We'll post the winner next month when we invite you to vote for June's best.

Enjoy! And thanks in advance for voting!

10 Years at the Arnold Classic: 2014

FLEXLESS IN COLUMBUS



I've stated my admiration for the women of the Figure and Fitness (and even, on occasion, the Bikini) divisions on this blog before, so this in no way reflects on them, but 2014 - for the female muscle fan at least - was a low point at the Arnolds. No Bodybuilding, and no Physique (which debuted in the pro event the following year). In other words, there was not one double biceps, or lat spread, or abs & thigh pose hit by a woman on the stage that year. Not one. Just three divisions, all involving the wearing of heels at some point. It may be "Bodybuilding" Jim Manion, but not as we know it.



Ashley Kaltwasser (a former Arnold Amateur Bikini champ), followed up her 2013 Olympia win to take her first (of three consecutive) Bikini International titles. And in Fitness, Oksana Grishina began her own, even more impressive winning streak. Starting with this event in 2014 until her retirement at the Olympia last year, Oksana competed thirteen times and on every occasion took home the winner's cheque.



In Figure though, it was more the end of an era. Candice Keene won for the third year in a row and for the last time. Unlike her Bikini and Fitness peers in 2014, she never dominated her division - she was never Ms Figure Olympia, for example. The year after this at the Arnolds, (this) Candice finished 3rd, and for the first time all three dominant forces in Figure today - (the other) Candice (Lewis-Carter), Latorya Watts and Cydney Gillon - would feature in the same line up for the first time.

MUSCLE!



If it was beef you wanted, the only place to look at the 2014 Arnolds was among the Physique amateurs, where 48 competitors demonstrated just how healthy and varied this new division could be. They included former and future Bodybuilder Silvia Matta, a future NABBA Worlds Physique (ie. Bodybuilding) champ, Karolina Holubcova, who would return to IFBB Physique again later, and a number of younger women who had never competed in a different division, among them Katie Lee.



Now this is "Bodybuilding"! There was even a disqualification! Naughty Suzy Kellner got kicked out. I don't know why, but it'd fit the theory if it was the old urine sample.




If you didn't know any better - like if, for the last few years, you'd been asleep, or frozen and brought back to life or something - you could have been forgiven for thinking, as you gazed at the impressively muscular women on stage, that you'd wandered in while the Light and/or Middleweight FBBs were up. I don't think Physique "killed" Female Bodybuilding at all - but I do think it is fair to say these women saved events like the Arnold Classic from disappearing from the female muscle fan radar altogether.



And - as with all good "Bodybuilding" shows - there was a judging controversy! The Short class and Overall winner Bruna Miyagui from Brazil was one of the least muscular women on the stage (although not without her charms), so the ever classy (and former Bodybuilder) Joan Liew had to settle for just the Tall class title.

BRITISH INTEREST?



Lots! Kizzy Vaines was again our only pro and she made the top 10 again in the Fitness division, and for the first time there was a serious British amateur contingent.



Left to right: Nikki Jenkins Robinsons was our most successful Bikini competitor - 6th, up to 160cm class. Nina Ross, who you may remember competed in Figure the previous year, was 8th, up to 166cm class; and Anita Bekus (up to 163cm) was 11th.




In Figure, Yo Lazarov finished outside the placings in her up to 160cm class; Reem Al-Bareeq and Karolina Borkova (both up to 163cm) placed 13th and 8th respectively; and the impressive Eszter Petti was 4th in the up to 166cm class.



Katalin Jasztrab went one better and finished 3rd in the over 169cm class - although technically she was still competing for Hungary then, Katalin's very much one of us now and - look at her! - we'll claim her whatever the paperwork says. Result of the day for the UK though came from the soon-to-be Figure pro Maria Scotland, who was both runner-up in her (Open) up to 166cm class and then our first ever Arnold Amateur champion when she won the up to 168cm Masters class (and was 3rd Overall).



And finally, the future of British Physique looked bright with three women flying the flag in that division. Rosanna Harte was beaten only by the Overall winner in the Short class - and that was by no means a unanimous judging decision, and in the same class, "Marea Warde", better known to us now as Ria Ward, placed 15th.



Hayley Brylewski was our sole competitor in the Tall class, and, as so often seems to be the case with Hayley in UKBFF contests at home and IFBB contests abroad, you are left wondering how such a stunning package was judged to be worthy of 13th place.

JUST 5 HOT AND HARD VOTING DAYS LEFT!

Find out how to vote here and then send them to 6ft1swell@gmail.com or use any comment box below any post. As I've said before, if you have voted using the comment box already - I have got your votes, I just haven't published them yet.

10 Years at the Arnold Classic: 2013

PHYSIQUE PIONEERS



We would not see Physique at the pro show for another couple of years, but 2013 was the division's debut at the Arnold Amateur. As tends to be the case with a brand spanking new division (a female one, anyway) there was a pretty wide range of looks for the judges to choose from. None of the women were very muscular - former Bodybuilders bronzed Brazilian Maria Rita Penteado and sexy Suzy Kellner (both above, 2nd and 6th respectively in the tall class) probably displayed the most muscular, conditioned packages - some of the women (who we won't feature thank you) would better be described as "chubby" (or if we were feeling more generous, "curvy"). Overall, the standard was far below what we would expect in a top amateur show these days, but at the same time the 30-woman line-up was not without its treats...



Mavi Gioia (11th, short), Ida Sefland (4th, tall) and Kristina Dybdahl (2nd, short) chief among them. The judges set the trend for fairly random decisions in the WPD that continues to this day, and this resulted in Brazil's short class winner Danielle da Silva outpointing tall class champ Mica Schneider (now an IFBB pro) for the Overall title.



It was a start.

And ps. I haven't gone for the "relaxed" pose for all the pictures out of choice. This is - apart from some pretty shaky truth be told shots from the routines - what we have to go on. Was there less posing then, a sort of Figure-style walk to do? Can't say I know how the contest was run and what (if any) compulsory poses they have to do now were performed by the women that day. Can anyone shed some light on this?

THE LAST HURRAH: PART 1



It wasn't only the Ms International that breathed its last at the 2013 Arnolds. Amateur Female Bodybuilding was also seen for the last time that year. Unsurprisingly, we'd seen bigger - in number I mean - line-ups (just 5 Lightweights and 8 Heavyweights turned up for the wake), but they were nevertheless line-ups that us fans would kill for today in the majority of early season IFBB pro shows, let alone an amateur one.



Above (top) Silvia Matta (4th, clearly overwhelmed with grief for the fate of her division), Nina Midling (3rd) and Singapore's Joan Liew (2nd) all had more than a touch of class about them, but it was Kashma Maharaj, competing for the US Virgin Islands, who dominated the Heavyweights. This was Kashma's career highlight (so far), since then she's never looked so good. And although she's had plenty of other problems to deal with, you've got to have sympathy for an up-and-coming FBB (possibly the up-and-coming FBB as far as us fans were concerned) at a time when serious doubts first started to be raised about whether there would be anything for her to come up to.



Croatia's Branka Njegovec - the Lightweight and Overall winner - has had a similarly torrid time since this moment of glory. Too Lightweight to compete effectively with the pro FBBs on stage, Branka has been found herself at the more muscular end of the Physique division over the last couple of years, gaining favour with judges occasionally, but mostly slumming it outside the top 10 at most of her pro outings. I suppose at least she might be able to take some comfort from knowing that technically he's still the reigning Arnold Amateur Female Bodybuilding champion though!

ALL CHANGE



With both the Fitness and Figure champions of the previous few years sitting out the Arnolds this year, there were new champions in both divisions. Tanji Johnson took advantage of Adela Garcia's absence to beat Oksana for the penultimate time (she would repeat the feat at the Arnold Classic Europe later in the year and never again). In Figure, Candice Keene took over from Nicole Wilkins, but perhaps the most notable Figure placing was that of Candice Lewis-Carter, who was awarded 4th.



Truly, here was the shape of things to come in her division.

THE LAST HURRAH: PART 2



As Arnold joked with Iris afterwards that there were now two seven-time champions on stage, not even the most seasoned commentators suspected what was about to happen to the second most prestigious pro Female Bodybuilding contest. In fact, it wasn't until June that the cancellation of the Ms International would be announced, so as Iris waved her check around and she thundered off stage, who knew this was the last time she nor any other Female Bodybuilder would be able to compete there?



As had become customary. Yaxeni and Debi fought it out for the placings immediately below Iris. Both seemed to have improved on their "best ever" 2012 physiques, with Yaxeni's superior stature once again getting the judges' nod in their mini-battle.



Below the top 3, Steve Wennerstrom noted that places 4 to 6 were taken by women who, "in keeping with the name of this contest made for a glowing example of the international treasures that have continued to infiltrate the ranks of the pros" - Brigita Brezovac, Cathy Lefrançois, and Brazil's Angela Debatin respectively.



Not since the days of weight classes had the latter placed so high, but after this show she struggled to rediscover the top 6 form she showed here, eventually switching to the Physique division in 2016 where she has found no great change in placings (so far).



Kim Buck was 7th, and Russian Olga Puzanova 8th on her Ms International debut. Tazzie Colomb, the woman with the longest competitive career in this field, sizzled on the Arnold stage for the last time in 9th, and Jeannie Paparone and the Ms International's first and last Greek, Elena Kavva, filled the final two spots.



Later that year we were signing petitions, there were howls of protest from Female Bodybuilders - though not the last Ms International, it was noted - all over social media and beyond, and even a film was made about Irene Andersen's search for answers as to why. Of course it all fell on the ears of those who had already decided the women's fate. Yes, we have, in the main, come to love Physique, and yes, in time, Wings of Strength resurrected pro FBBing, and touch wood (geddit?) it continues to grow, slow and steady. But lest we forget, back then these were some very dark days indeed.

BRITISH INTEREST?



Having had just two different British women compete in the preceeding five years, this was a bounty indeed. Melissa Haywood, who I think I'm right in saying was the British Bikini champ at that time, placed 4th (out of 22) in her Bikini class. Nina Ross would go on to become Britain's first ever IFBB Bikini pro and Olympian, but back in 2013 she was to be found in the Figure division. Here she placed 6th in her class.



2013 also saw the first Arnold appearance of an even more familiar body and face - Rosanna Harte. Like Nina, Rosie has gone on to get her pro card and been to the Olympia since, greater success coming after a switch in division. At this contest though, she was still competing as a Lightweight Bodybuilder, and placed 3rd.



And last but not least of our fantastic class of '13 British four, Kizzy Vaines was once again our sole pro rep, and was once again placed a career-high 7th in Fitness.