During the morning session, the standout physiques in the fitness short class belonged to Antonia Grady and Tracey Macdonald. The best routine, however, was turned in by the young woman from Quebec. In the tall class, Jamie Senuk is the one to beat. Her physique is other-worldly this year - she left nothing to chance. She'll need to nail her routine tonite to ensure a class win and then the battle for the overall could be a coin flip.
There were only two women in the figure short class, which will be won by Angela Robinson (I'm pretty sure that's her name).
In the medium class, there were fourteen women, and it looks like our golden girl Trina Gillis may have won the two-piece round. Jill St. Laurent and Emmanuela Pintus are also very strong in this class. Look for Allison Black in the top five as well. In the one-piece, Jill seemed to get the nod over Trina and Allison.
In the tall class, it's a toss-up once again, as defending champion Nina Luchka seeks to hold off a strong challenge from a very determined Tammy Strome. Both women have pro-quality physiques, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the overall champion emerge from this class. It's really a shame that either woman has to place 2nd - they're both that good. Also in the mix is Roberta Orth, who is in the best shape of her life. She's definitely an inspiration to us all.
After last year's huge success in Ontario, the turnout for this year's show is pretty disappointing. Obviously the scheduling has a lot to do with that, but I'd argue that the federation should've been more aggressive in extending the 2004 qualification to this year's event. Some people apparently were extended, but not everyone knew about it...that's the rumor I'm hearing anyway, but haven't heard that directly from any national federation (CBBF) officials. The quality at the top of each class is great, though, and certainly makes the show worthwhile.
Winnipeg isn't the most exciting city in the world and it's cold as *@#& here (minus-4 degrees Celsius this morning), but the venue is AWESOME. It's one of the best venues I've ever been in for a physique event and it totally makes up for everything that's wrong about Winnipeg. Well, the locals are all really super-nice people, too, which is a big plus. I swear, I think these might be the nicest people in the world. GeneX and I were asking ourselves, "Are we really that rude??" lol Seriously, the hotel staff here at the Fairmont - exceptional lodging at just $99 CDN/night - have gone out of their way to make our stay enjoyable.
I wish I had time to say more, but it's almost time for the finals. Enjoy these shots and I'll do my best to get more up soon.
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