The Norwood Town Hall was close to capacity crowd as the 2008 NABBA/WFF SA Championships commenced with an energetic and entertaining routine from Hyperdance featuring Christina, Sophie, Natasha and Stephanie.

Television personality and ex AFL star, Troy Gray returned as compere and wasted no time in enthusiastically welcoming the crowd and building the excitement for what was to be a fantastic show displaying the fine talents of South Australia’s bodybuilders and figure competitors. It was great to see some amazing veterans of the sport grace the stage again, but equally great to see so many high quality first time competitors—proving that our sport is alive and well in SA!
The first class of the evening was the WFF Athletic Teenage division. From the beginning it was clear that the judges were going to have a difficult task ahead of them with two fantastic competitors, Adam Cannella and Fadi Oudih competing for the title. In an extremely close contest, Adam Cannella, with good overall balance and conditioning took the honours. Fadi Oudih made an impressive debut and showed he had all the foundations there to succeed in the future. He showed tremendous development given his age and had he used a little more colour in pre-judging and perhaps come in a touch harder could easily have reversed the order!

Continuing the high standard, the NABBA Junior class was next. Matthew McHugh was the winner, showing amazing muscle maturity for his age and coming in hard and lean. Jarrad Wyett, as runner up, impressed the judges with his shape and development and just needs to work on his posing in order to show himself off to his best advantage and place higher. It was a great first effort and it w

Mens Junior Winner Matt McHugh

ill be great to see Jarrad continue in the future.

The first of the ladies classes was the WFF Novice Figure class 1. Three ladies competed in this class and all presented beautifully. Annette Ferguson was the winner, coming in very lean and with great upper body muscle tone. A little more development on legs and glutes will see Annette holding her own in the open classes. Second place went to Susan Bean, who posed beautifully and made an impressive debut, just needing a little more overall development in order to place higher. In third place, was Klara McKenzie, who returned to the stage, having made improvements in her stage presentation and condition. In order to place higher, Klara needs to develop her overall muscularity, particularly her deltoids and back.

The muscle kept coming with the WFF Mens Athletic Novice. Two top quality competitors, Shane Budgen and Scot Menzies excited the audience with their fantastic conditioning. Scot was the eventual winner, with great upper body development, outstanding condition and a confident routine. A little more development in the legs and calves will make Scot a formidable opponent in the future! Runner-up, Shane, was in fantastic condition and was only let down by his symmetry and posture, which could very likely be overcome by refining his posing. Scot showed he had a bright future and we look forward to seeing him on stage again.

WFF Mens Masters over 40 had two amazingly shredded men vying for the title. Winner, Peter Kucharski, presented a balanced physique, great symmetry and posed with confidence and flair. Veteran, Warwick Williams was runner-up, with his trademark ripped condition, but just missed out due to his symmetry and was perhaps a bit flat. Warwick obviously loves competing but may have “burned the candle at both ends” in recent times and his body would benefit from more recovery and less dieting!
We look forward to seeing Warwick a little fuller and more rested next time.

Overall wff mens line up Scott Menzies, Peter Kucharski, Tommy Settimio and Darren Ayris

Next up was the WFF Mens Masters Over 50 and we were treated to a very entertaining routine with a New Zealand flavor from long time competitor, Phil Peake. Phil had really impressive arms and his posing was good but needed to be leaner to place higher. Winner, was Braham Power, who presented well and had good abdominals. To improve further, Braham needs to concentrate on his back and legs in the gym and come in a bit harder again.

The NABBA Womens Figure over 35 saw two lovely ladies on stage. Joanne Dowling returned having made really noticeable improvements to her symmetry. She retained her upper body development and toned down her legs and posed beautifully. Joanne has lovely stage presence and has a bright future, only needing to work on her conditioning to place higher. Winner, Sofie Rossi was very lean and had a great upper body. Again, Sofie posed beautifully and only needs to develop a bit more shape and hardness in the lower body to further improve.
As the masters classes came to a conclusion with the NABBA Mens Masters over 40, the crowd were stunned by the quality of the two competitors on stage. Peter Marshall made an impressive debut. His muscularity, vascularity and condition were outstanding and with a little refinement to posing and presentation will continue to dominate. Peter was runner-up to NABBA legend, World and Universe competitor, Kym Johncock, who returned to the stage after a six year hiatus and showed that he was still a world class physique! Kym was breathtaking, showing balanced development, thick muscle mass, great vascularity and condition and presented as the consummate professional! Kym was also awarded the trophy for Most Muscular.

Nabba Masters 0/40s Winner Kym JohnCock

The Ladies WFF classes had one competitor in each division, but all were worthy winners. Annelie Sundgren made her debut in the WFF Womens Athletic Figure Class 2 and posed beautifully. Annelie has lovely shape and presents with confidence and style. With more overall development, she has everything there to be a top level figure competitor in the future. In the WFF Womens Athletic Figure Class 1, the lovely Vicki Sauerwald treated us to a beautiful routine and display of feminine muscularity. Vicki was in great condition and has balanced development. In future contests with close competition, Vicki might need to take care that her symmetry is not compromised. Experimenting with various costume styles might be beneficial, but all in all, Vicki showed she has a big future in figure contests. Lisa Moreland was the WFF Womens Athletic Physique champion. Lisa showed that she has worked very hard in the gym, with good upper body development and a pleasing shape. A little more hardness and leg/glute development will see Lisa improve further.

Ladies Wff class 1 Winner Annelie Sundgren

The first half of the show was concluded with a wonderful couples routine from the enigmatic Terri Roberts and new-comer, David Ciechanowicz. Always a crowd favourite, it was great to see two wonderful physiques in a very entertaining and theatrical routine.

The muscle-fest continued with the WFF Mens Athletic Class 3. Runner up, James Mythan displayed a very pleasing shape. He posed well and showed tremendous potential. Coming in harder and leaner will see James do very well in future contests. Winner, Darren Ayris made his debut with razor sharp condition, a great upper body and a very confident, up-beat routine. A little more lower body development will balance Darrens physique.

Mens overall wff champion James Callery

The WFF Mens Athletic Class 2 was a very strong line up with three quality physiques. Winner, Tommy Settimio was almost faultless in his presentation with a polished performance showing symmetry, balance, development and hard conditioning. In a close contest for 2nd, Ben Donoghue just out muscled a much improved Kym Papadimitrioulis. Ben, who for a second time was awarded the trophy for Most Potential, had improved again from last year and has the shape, proportion and stage presence to be exceptional. Ben only needs to improve on his condition to improve further. Only one point behind, Kym continued to impress. Each year, Kym shows more and more improvement and this year got his conditioning perfect. Bringing up his legs, chest and deltoid width will balance Kym’s symmetry and refining his posing will show him in his best light.

Nabba champions Nephew Jason takes on Uncle Kym for the overall Mr SA