Completely focused on strength training was Lake Wales boys’ junior weightlifter Josh Canet as he prepared for the biggest weightlifting moment of his life. This preparation led to accomplishing his most esteemed feat to date.
Canet, 17, was able to rack up three silver medals, placing second in the nation in the 81KG youth 16-17-years-olds Dec. 7 at the USAW American Open Finals in Wilmington, North Carolina.
“That was like the greatest achievement I’ve ever done,” Canet said.
But it wasn’t the fact that Canet was able to accomplish three silver medals that was his most critical feat. Rather, it was the valley he had to endure to even make the decision to continue weightlifting.
Back in July, Canet advanced to nationals, but he didn’t achieve the result that he was striving for.
“That really had an impact on me. I really wanted to make it up for myself and my coaches,” Canet said. “So, I really just pushed myself and get really higher on the stage. In that moment, I just know that this meet was going to be special, and that was the most challenging thing I had to face which was being consistent and following my program. And just trusting my coaches.”
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Canet trusted Lake Wales head coach Tashawn Williams. Together, they worked on his weakest part of his weightlifting, which was being in a jerk-based position. It was Williams who would work with Canet, developing his jerk movement to a tee in an effort to make it flawless — like all the other weightlifting movements in his repertoire.
He took the training and the coaching to North Carolina earlier this month and represented Polk County and Lake Wales. It was finally his time to shine.
“It felt really good. It was really an emotional moment because it felt so normal, like it felt like it was supposed to already happen, so I really didn’t grasp it at the time,” Canet said.
It wasn’t until Canet came back home with his folks and coaches that it dawned on him that he was able to attain three silver medals, is ranked second in the nation at his weight class and that his name is now out there.
Now, Canet aims to use the USAW platform and his coaching, and take it into the spring season, as his goal is to become a state champion. Last season, he fell short, as he didn’t place in state. His highest mark is second in regionals.
“I’m going to do a lot of training leading up to that to just really secure my spot because there are a lot of good people, and I don’t want to fall short of my spot again this year,” Canet said.