FBBUK @Toronto Pro 2017

Great to see some of the big beasts of Women's Bodybuilding finally unleashed last weekend in Toronto, with Kim Buck taking first prize to book her place at the 2017 Rising Phoenix. Great also to see four British women (in three different divisions) competing in such a big international pro show. It's all about those four today.



BIKINI

Karina Skowronska



Her third show in three weeks, the unplaced Karina neither was, nor felt, at her best. The package you can see on stage is not what I wanted to show, she said afterwards, obviously disappointed. Sometimes we want to do more than our body can handle. With her Scitec UK sponsorship and ambition though, I'm sure Karina will be back, wearing yet another one of her own magnificent Sparkle Bikini creations.

Alla Meijer




Her pro debut and 6th place. I think it's fair to say Russian-born Alla won't need too long to go where only Nina Ross has gone before and represent Britain at the Olympia. UK BB sage John Plummer (who would be the UK's Steve Wennerstrom if he paid less attention to the men) noted Alla's potential a couple of years ago, and she has since gone on to represent the UK at the Arnold Europe Amateur, finishing 2nd in her (tall - she's 1.72m, 5'6") class. I don't follow Bikini but WOW! I wrote at the time. In Toronto she wowed both me, and more importantly the judges, once again.

Strangely, Alla's social media seems presence seems to have all but disappeared - with the exception of a Facebook page which was last updated in 2016. Instagram, her website... gone. Perhaps she was getting a bit too much attention, there's certainly no shortage of men (and women) waxing lyrical about her on their fitness blogs.

FIGURE

Maria Scotland




Celebrating after the show with Karina and Alla was Maria Scotland, who, in an ultra-competitive Figure line-up, was awarded 13th. She's becoming something of a veteran these days is Maria, who won her pro card back in 2014 at the Arnold Amateur. She has good memories of Toronto - in 2015 she placed 4th here, her best ever as a pro. It's the experience and the cameraderie though, rather than the placings, that she seems to cherish most. The best thing about the last 6 years has been meeting so many amazing strong independent women, she says. I'm sure they feel exactly the same.

BODYBUILDING

Wendy McCready




By far the most exciting British result of the show though was Wendy McCready's in the Bodybuilding class. This was her first show for three years, and surrounded by women who looked to be at least three or four times her size, her ultra-conditioned package punched well above her weight and secured her a top three placing.




It was her best result since she placed third in Toronto all the way back in 2012, and the smile as she showed off her medal afterwards says it all. Congratulations Wendy!



Wendy will be competing again in Chicago at the end of the month.

Enjoy!

FBBUK@ IFBB Body Power Pro 2015

The contest that accompanies the Body Power Expo at Birmingham's NEC is not the contest for those who like their freakshow. There's no "Bodybuilding" division in sight, female or male. It's Figure only for the ladies, Physique for the boys (plus a Wheelchair division - male only). Nevertheless, there was, this year, something for the UK female muscle fan to cheer, because of the 10 Figure competitors who lined up in Birmingham, three were British.

Now that may not sound like much to celebrate, and if it's going to happen anywhere it'll be at Body Power where travel costs are at a minimum for UK entrants, but even so, it's not often that you see 3 of the UK's finest in the same division at an IFBB show.

Unfortunately, photos of the women on stage have proved hard to come by, and the few we post here are pretty much all we have found of our British gems at the contest. More photos of the event are available on the Czech (!) bodybuilding site Extrifit.

The three British women who lined up were...

LOUISE ROGERS (3rd)


Louise backstage at Body Power

The evergreen Louise followed her trip to the New York Pro in March with a third place at Body Power. She was, she reckons "a little bit too hard" at this show, which wouldn't have counted against her if I'd been one of the judges, but according to Louise was a factor "given how dark my tan was under such bright lights".



Louise is busy, busy, busy this contest season, and will be heading back across the Atlantic for the Toronto Pro Supershow on June 6th and 7th.



MARIA SCOTLAND (7th)


Maria at the NY Pro (left), and at Body Power

Probably the least familiar of the British women on show, 2014 Arnold Amateur runner-up Maria Scotland also competed with Louise at the New York Pro in March. Despite the name, Maria is from London, and as well as succeeding as a Figure competitor, she's been a qualified barrister specialising in family law since 1995.



Would you believe she'll be 45 at the end of June or that she didn't start competing until she was in her 40s? Well, believe, because she will and she didn't.



Read all about Maria in an interview with Flex Online from a couple of years ago, and you can follow her on Facebook as well. She's posted a YouTube video of the Body Power show there. I’ll be still competing in 10 years, she says. This is my life now.


Maria at the 2014 Arnold Amateur (right)

KIZZY VAINES (9th)



She's much more familiar to fans as Britain's only Fitness pro, but Kizzy - for the second year in succession - was temporarily a Figure competitor at Body Power this year.



She's been a pro for over a decade now, flying the flag for us over in the US. She even has two professional wins to her name - the 2009 and 2010 Fort Lauderdale Pro titles - and she has competed at two Olympias and four Arnold Classics. Meanwhile, in her homeland, this former professional dancer from Barnsley has received little or no recognition, except perhaps the ripple her appearance in Elisha Smith-Leverock's prize-winning short I Want Muscle made in the British media in 2011.

FMS says: Kizzy, you are a national bloody treasure.



Congratulations to Louise, Maria and Kizzy for their exploits at Body Power and FMS wishes them all the best of British luck for their next and future contests.

Enjoy!