2019 Caledonian Classic

2019 Caledonian Classic Photos courtesy of Sam Solarfly, Matt Marsh Photography Our second qualifying contest of the season saw our biggest ever athlete turnout north of the border, as the 6th annual “Cally” took place in its last minute home of the amazing Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. With every class hotly contested and hard fought in front of the best crowd in the business who were on fire from the time the show was opened with a great guest appearance by WNBF Professional Stuart McCulloch to the moment the final trophy was presented. The results were as follows: Teenage Men 1 – Santiago Saldana Embarking on his third season of UKDFBA competition, Santiago came onstage vastly improved and his best yet with great progress in muscle size and a beautiful natural shape starting to emerge. I predict a strong challenge at this years finals for this young man.

Junior Men 1 – Connor Gazzard 2 – Adam Powe 3 – Walter Selley 4 – Ben Prentice 5 – Joshua Lewis Also competed: Connor Crompton, Aaron Crowe, Kieran Wyness. A super strong junior class which featured hard battles for both the first two placings and for 3rd and 4th. Winner Connor was big, hard and well presented and edged the result from the slightly bigger but fractionally softer Adam in a great tussle. A shredded Walter edged third in perhaps the best condition of the contest but needed more size to place higher while Ben in 4th was cut and symmetrical, but too needed a touch more size on his tall and wide frame. Joshua pinched 5th in a tight battle with Connor Crompton, with both men being quite evenly matched. Both will benefit from a touch more condition and Joshua needs to work on his presentation a touch, tending to display himself a little unevenly side to side. Aaron and Kieran were both in great shape but needed more muscle to challenge the higher placings today.

Masters Men 1 – Billy Duthie 2 – Neil Hanley 3 – Lee Tulleth A clear win from Billy as he lifted his fourth Caledonian title in style with his massive, well proportioned physique. Not quite as hard as last years win, one could not help but think he was saving something for the finals this year where he is sure to be a front runner again. Neil was vastly improved in conditioning from the USN Classic and thoroughly deserved his finals invitation where he will be very much in the mix if he keeps progressing and Lee in third was also much improved from his last outing and at this rate of improvement will be pushing for the wins in no time as he gains more size.

Grandmasters Men 1 – Robert Smith 2 – William Wilson 3 – James Durnion A hard fought battle for the Grandmasters title had Robert and William both present rock hard and well proportioned physiques with Robert taking the win with a slightly bigger overall package. James in 3rd was his best yet, making progress in condition every time he competes.

Ladies Masters Figure 1 – Katy Walker 2 – Jo Sayer 3 – Helen Faulds 4 – Jane Robertson 5 – Gina Gardiner Also competed: Karen McLean, Amanda Dooey, Denise Scott. The first ladies class of the day saw another clear contender for the top spot, with Katy looking incredibly balanced and with a lovely shape. Jo in 2nd was lean and well presented but needed a little more muscle and shape to the upper body to push the winner harder today. Helen looked great in 3rd and close to her best ever, right on the border of both figure and fit body disciplines and looking just as comfortable in both. Jane in 4th had the potential to run away with this class today without doubt but was a fraction down on the required condition and hurt herself badly in the rear comparison shots where she pinched her shoulder blades together and made herself appear very narrow. Jane, it is definitely worth taking a shot at another qualifier this year as with a couple of minor tweaks you could cause a huge upset come the finals! Gina was lean and muscular in 5th, and suited better to fit body but still more than good enough to secure the final top 5 slot. Karen, Amanda and Denise were all in great shape but needed more shape and fullness of muscle to crack the top 5 today.

Novice Men 1 – Tamuka Mutandwa 2 – Lee Christie 3 – Ridwan Dabeedin 4 – Erwin Sokolowski 5 – Scott Milne A solid win for Tamuka, much improved from his junior appearance last season with the extra muscle on his lovely structure making him stand out a mile in this class. A little more condition for the finals would not go amiss, and would make him very hard to beat. Tamuka was pushed all the way by runner up Lee, who could have done no more today to look his best. Hard, detailed and rugged looking but without the natural flow to his physique that the winner possessed. Lee too will be hard to ignore at the finals in this shape. A tight battle for third saw a harder and more shapely Ridwan edge out Erwin. Ridwan has a dream of an upper body, but still needs a little more size and separation to his legs in general to be balanced. Erwin on the other hand is big, has decent proportions and a nice shape but really needs to crack his condition. In top shape, Erwin could win any Novice qualifier and be a threat at national level. Scott took 5th place today looking big and full, but too needs to chip away at his condition to be seen at his best.

Ladies Figure, Open 1 – Karina Zakurdajeva 2 – Amanda laws 3 – Indre Urbanaviciute 4 – Nicole Pollock 5 – Caitlin Duguid Also competed: Lesley Rowan, Rachel Outram, Ashley Smith, Danielle McIntyre. Another absolutely superb class, with Karina taking a straight first win from the judges. Perfectly presented with a lovely shape and ideal condition for the class, she was about as heavily muscled as the criteria allows and should be careful not to get harder for the finals as this may push her over the border into fit body level muscularity. Amanda took second in great shape but needing a little more fullness to the upper body to push the winner, with Indre in 3rd pushing her hard for the runner up spot and capable of turning the tables with a little more condition in the lower body. Nicole just missed the top 3, with a neat and well muscled figure just requiring a little more upper body width to give her the required shape. Fifth placed Caitlin was one of the standout athletes of the day, although not in this particular discipline. Tall, wide framed and muscular with great condition she cries out Fit Body all day long and it would be interesting to see her in that class later. Outside the top 5, the ladies all looked great but generally needed a little more muscle and conditioning to place higher today.

Ladies Fit Body 1 – Caitlin Duguid 2 – Karen Glendenning 3 – Helen Faulds 4 – Gina Gardiner 5 – Jo Sayer Also competed: Karen McLean, Rachel Outram, Nicole Pollock. The ladies fit body class was taken solidly by Caitlin, who is literally an embodiment of what this class is all about. Muscular, shapely and hard and on this form today bound to be tough to beat at the finals. She was however pushed hard by runner up Karen who showed the perfect level of muscle and condition for the class and posed superbly, just lacking the natural width and taper that Caitlin displayed today. Helen took her second 3rd place of the day, equally if not slightly better suited to this class and perhaps able to display her muscularity better with the fit body posing. Gina just missed the top 3 and looked much more at home in this class, just needing a touch more muscle to push into the placings and finals contention. Jo took 5th in great shape but requires more muscle size to best fit the criteria for this class, as did Karen, Rachel and Nicole who placed outside the top 5 although all were in great shape.

Ladies Bodybuilding 1 – Pauline Ferguson 2 – Lynn Wilson Another close contest between two very good Ladies, won by an improved beyond all recognition Pauline who has made so much progress since her contest debut last season and was visibly over the moon to lift her first title. The experienced Lynn was hot on her heels though and could have taken the title herself with no complaint. Both ladies will be in the mix at the finals and will make for a rematch worth seeing.

Lightweight Men 1 – David Old 2 – Joe Murphy 3 – Sam Robinson 4 – Eddy Williams 5 – Billy Joe McKinnie An incredible standard of athlete across all 5 men in the lightweight class, with all 5 being invited to the finals as a result. David took the win in his trademark incredible condition, looking to have added some mass to his frame since his last outing 2 years ago and staking his claim to be one of the favourites for the finals as he lifted his fourth Caledonian title. The next three places were incredibly tight, with each of the three men receiving 2nd, 3rd and 4th place votes from the judges and who could have easily placed in any order with no complaint. Through my eyes, Joe carried the most muscle and was in hard condition, Sam was the best balanced of the three with a beautiful shape and lines and Eddy was the hardest and most detailed from the front and side where he boasted incredible thickness but faded a little from the back and lacked the natural shoulder width of the other two men. Billy Joe took 5th, and was hard, detailed and well balanced. He lacked a little size compared to the other men today and was just unlucky to find himself in such an incredible class of athlete but was deserving of his finals invitation where in all honesty these same 5 men could make up the top 5 with no problem.

Middleweight Men 1 – Rodrigue Diomande 2 – Steven Chidgey 3 – Dean Watts Another talent packed class was next, as all three Middleweights looked World class and again could all challenge at the finals should they choose to accept their invitations. Winner Rodrigue was huge and thick, with muscle to spare all over and took a comfortable win today although would benefit from being a touch harder for the finals and tweaking his posing, where he tends to narrow himself in his front and back shots. A best ever Steven took 2nd, balanced and full with great conditioning and a lovely structure with no real glaring developmental points on his physique. Today it just came down to apples vs oranges and the heavier built man won the battle. It will be interesting to see these men face each other again at the finals, as a reversal of todays result is not out of the question. Dean took third, and although not quite heavily muscled enough to topple the other two men today was not light on muscle by any means and boasted a beautiful shape, proportions and condition.

Heavyweight Men 1 – Duayne Grossett *** Overall Winner *** Although alone in the class, Duane sent a firm message to any heavyweight hoping to reach UK title honours this season that they had a serious contender to get past in him. A huge, thickly muscled and dense physique which was the by product of over 30 years of hard training, conditioned and detailed deeply and rock hard on all points of the compass. Duane was a fraction more impressive from the front and side than the back, and by his own reckoning was a little flatter than he wanted to be today but he looked incredible and was a unanimous choice among the judges for the overall title moments after his class presentation. A bookies favourite for the finals for sure, if there was such a thing...

Ladies Bikini, Short 1 – Rowena Lloyd 2 – Alexandra Juhasz 3 – Stephanie Green 4 – Charlotte Brown 5 – Vivienne McLaughlin Also competed: Danielle Lavan, Fiona Meikle, Emma Campbell. Another great class and another clear winner in Rowena who was virtually flawless in every aspect of her physique, boasting ideal levels of muscularity and condition and superb presentation which will make her a definite front runner at the finals. Runner up Alexandra was aesthetically very pleasing with great shape and development but needed to match the winners condition to have pushed her harder today. A lean and athletic Stephanie took 3rd ahead of Charlotte in 4th by virtue of being a little tighter. Vivienne was hot on their heels in 5th and could have jumped a couple of places had she been a touch leaner with the ladies placing outside the top 5 all looking great but needing a little more muscle to push the higher places today.

Ladies Bikini, Tall 1 – Laura Foster *** Overall Winner *** 2 – Zoe Carradice 3 – Riina Jalonen 4 – Lainie McIvor 5 – Michelle Scott Also competed: Nicola Ayton and Lisa Mcilwraith. Equally as impressive as the short class winner and just as perfect a representation of the criteria for this class was tall class winner Laura who too looked practically flawless. In the overall, her slightly fuller upper body and resulting shape took the win narrowly over the slightly harder Rowena in a contest which could have gone either way and may well be repeated at the finals in October. Zoe was just as clear in 2nd place with a lovely shape and ideal level of muscle, just needing to be a fraction tighter to push the winner today. Riina in 3rd and Lainie in 4th had a close battle for the final trophy slot, with Riina coming out on top with her slightly tighter overall package with Michelle in 5th vastly improved from last season and in ideal condition for the class, with potential to climb the placings as she gains more muscle overall. Outside the top 5, both Nicola and Lisa looked incredible, and with a fraction more muscle and condition will be pushing the placings in future.

Mens Physique, Short 1 – Steven Collins 2 – Robert McCrudden 3 – Ridwan Dabeedin 4 – Lewis McFarlane 5 – Aldo O’Donnell Also competed: Scott Shacklady, Anthony Over, Kartik Ruhela, Lee Bealing, Greg Steele, Declan Dawson, Vijay Shinde. A unanimous win for Steven in the first Mens Physique class, with an untouchable package today in terms of shape, conditioning and balance. With room on his frame for a little more muscle still, the future in this class is bright for Steven. Equally as unanimous in the runner up spot was Robert, who was heavier in the upper body than the winner with a nice shape and balance but not quite as lean. If he hardens up a touch, this is yet another result which could be flipped at the finals. Third place was taken by Ridwan in a close battle with 4th placed Lewis. Although Lewis was a little bigger and leaner than Ridwan he could not match the dream of a shape that Ridwan brings to the stage and catches the eye immediately in this very shape dominant criteria. Aldo in 5th was hard and muscular, but needed a little more size to place higher but just managed to fend off Scott who placed 6th with a lovely shape and structure and who could have been several places higher if he was a shade tighter. The remaining athletes in the class generally needed more muscle and condition to challenge the placings today.

Mens Physique, Tall 1 – Chris Rendall *** Overall Winner *** 2 – Mark Sweeney 3 – Connor Boyd 4 – James Reekie 5 – Anas Nfaou Also competed: Imtiyaz Attarwala, Aleksander Manev, Kudzai Chidziva, Adam Saez, Andrew Clark, Michael Frith, Martun Campbell, Steven Moyes, Matt Braund. The final class of the day bought our last straight firsts winner of the contest in Chris, who was untouchable in this class with his size, shape and condition and went on to take the overall in a good battle with short class winner Steven by virtue of his slightly bigger and fuller physique. My only advice to Chris for the finals would be to focus on displaying his abdominals a little more in his front pose as opposed to vacuuming up into a wider stance, as this focal point of his physique features heavily in the discipline. Mark and Connor ran out a comfortable 2nd and 3rd respectively with well muscled and conditioned physiques that just needed a little more muscle in comparison o the winner today. James and Anas took 4th and 5th, with James being bigger and fuller and creating a more aesthetic shape as a result compared to Anas who was sharper but needed more size for his frame. Outside the top 5, there was a real mixed bag of physiques, some of whom needed to be harder and some who lacked the muscle required to place today. All looked great though and should be proud of what they bought to the stage. A short time later, after Chris took the aforementioned overall the contest came to a close. Despite the very stressful and sudden circumstances which lead to the change of venue for the event, we could not have hoped for a better contest. Thanks must go to the staff of the Assembly Rooms who made today possible by stepping in so late in the day, and to all of the “Caledonian Crew” who under the leadership of promoter Gordon Adam made the event run like clockwork. On now to the Southern Counties, after a short break through July. Lee.

Overall Winners