FMS Ms O Countdown: Veterans

Cathy LeFrançois and Debi Laszweski have, between them, over forty years of contest experience. Cathy first competed at in a local amateur show in Québec in 1990 as a 19-year-old. I really didn't have any idea about what I needed to do, she says. I learned to pose by looking at pictures in magazines. Someone told me that I needed to do some sort of dance routine for the night show, so that is what I did. She walked away with awards for best poser and best routine, and the conviction that she had found her calling. Debi, inspired at 21 to take up weight training by Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor physique, first competed three years later, in 1994.

By 1995, Cathy was a pro, and by 2000 had become one half of bodybuilding's premier couple after marrying Lee Priest. She had competed at two Olympias by the time she made a sojourn into figure, with little success, in 2005, the same year her marriage ended (I'm not suggesting these things are connected!). Since 2006 not a year has gone by without her stepping onto the stage as a competitor, her biggest wins being her three consecutive New York Pro titles between 2008 and 2010, and victory at the Tampa Pro in 2011.

The Tampa win put paid to thoughts that Cathy's best years were behind her, and she has finished in the top 6 at the last two Ms Internationals. The older I get the better I get! she says. More muscle gain, maturity and your fan club grows with it. I would like to be in the top 5 again! I would love to be top 3 and be the one holding my friend Iris Kyle's hand.

Debi has already been there, holding Iris' hand last year as she finished second, breaking the 'Iris first Yaxeni second' result for the first time since Heather Policky was runner-up in 2009. In fact, since that year, Debi's Olympia record is as good as, if not better than, Yaxeni Oriquen's, with a second, two thirds, and a fourth place.

No one can begrudge her this belated success. At the 2000 and 2001 Nationals she was so dismayed by the judges' decisions that she took four years out of competition, and after her return in 2005, when she came second, missing out on her pro card again, she commented that I always seem to do the wrong show at the wrong time. It was more than ten years after her first competition that she was finally able to turn professional. Subsequently, she has been a regular in the top two or three at the Olympia and the Ms International, and describes her career as currently being at a pinnacle.

If Debi were to walk off the stage as the new Ms Olympia on Friday, which is her avowed aim, it would be a shock of seismic proportions. As her fellow female muscle veteran has said, To beat Iris Kyle she would have to be retired! But, you never really know what's going to happen at female bodybuilding shows, and if that unlikely event does occur, nobody could say that Debi hadn't earned it.


CATHY LEFRANÇOIS (Can)



Born: Amqui, Québec
Age: 42
Height: 5'3" (1.60)
Best Ms O: 4th (lightweight) 2000, 2003
In 2013: 5th Ms International









DEBI LASZEWSKI (USA)



Born: Wausau, Wisconsin
Age: 43
Height: 5’2½" (1.59)
Best Ms O: 2nd 2012
In 2013: 3rd Ms International

Thighs of the Day: The Elite

Twelve elite thighs (and other bits) from the top 6 at the recent Miss International.

left: Angela Debatin (6th), right: Cathy Le François (5th)


left: Brigita Brezovac (4th), right: Debi Laszewski (3rd)


left: Yaxeni Oriquen (2nd), right: Iris Kyle (1st)


Want more elite thighs and bodies? You could do worse than check out jlelmariachi's youtube channel, where the descriptions are almost as good as the images and the biggest and best in professional bodybuilding get the 'Mariachi' treatment...
Over and over again.

Thighs of the Day concludes tomorrow.

Debi of the Day

And so to our last Debi day, and a pic from March of this year that showcases ripped, vascular muscularity wirh searing facial beauty – our favourite combination. Other female bodybuilders may come and go, but Debi has always been. A true great of the sport, her biggest achievements may still be yet to come. If anyone is ever going to finally topple Iris, FMS can think of few women who would be more deserving.

Not enough Debi? Check out  her website

Debi of the Day

If this isn’t heaven from behind, please send me the image that is. Debi has the kind of legs that separate the best from the rest. And you could probably break your teeth on those glutes. And be happy to do so.

Debi of the Day

One of her training clients who provides a testimonial on her website has a nickname for Debi: The Dream Maker. Now, the gentleman in question is almost certainly referring to the way she’s made his bodybuilding dreams come true, but at the same time Debi has undoubtedly provoked the imagination of fans like myself to drift into dreamland with images like this. Have a good look at this pic and let your imagination go hog wild. What would you like to do to her tricep? Would you do it before or after you attend to her shoulder? How long will that dress be able to contain her pumped-up bod? And when it rips apart, what, if anything, is she wearing underneath? What has she just used that chain to do, and most importantly perhaps, what is she about to do to you with that chain?

Answers (if you care to share) by comment below, or to 6ft1swell@gmail.com please.

Debi of the Day

A softer and considerably less-covered Laszewski today. Thinking back, it was probably Muscle Elegance that introduced me to Debi back in the day, so I felt it was important to have an example of her ‘glamour’ work among the images this week. It was a hard job picking just one naked photo of her from among the FMS archives, but somebody had to do it.

Debi of the Day

More lens-melting hotness from our goddess of the week to brighten up your Monday. Debi is deliciously ripped, oiled and pumped here. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Never let me backstage at a female bodybuilding contest. It’s been images like this that have convinced me that a) I couldn’t be trusted to keep my hands to myself, and that b) my heart couldn’t be trusted to handle being surrounded by sights like this. Having said that, it would be a great way to go…

Debi of the Day

Everything we like about Debi is encapsulated in this 2005 classic. Obviously, it’s about those muscles, especially those gorgeous legs. It’s about the swimsuit struggling to contain all that woman. But there’s so much more to it than that. It’s in the attitude that she gives off. The way she’s holding her hair, the look in her eyes, the open mouth. And that attitude is coming right out of the image at you. Feel the heat.

Debi of the Day

Her first contest was in 1994, she was inspired into the sport by The Terminator, she loves her Bengal cat, and she was born in Wisconsin. It was her birthday on September 29th, and on the day she turned 43, she achieved her best ever contest result, placing 2nd at the Miss Olympia, which (when you consider that Iris just has to turn up to walk off with the trophy) is pretty much like winning the ‘competition’.




It seems to this fan anyway, that few women in the sport have been so consistently excellent at the highest level for so long, and that an FMS tribute to this remarkable woman is long overdue.



And so, to Debi from us, a belated Happy Birthday, congratulations on your recent success, and a big, heartfelt thank you for all the pleasure you have given us over the years.

And to you, dear reader, a whole week of Debi to look forward to.