Page 58 August 2 0 1 4 ARCADIA SPORTS Weightlifting coach discovers promising young athlete By Nicholas Smith Mark House knew early on that he was coaching an exceptional athlete in Tyera Zweygard. “From the first time she picked up a weight, I could tell,” said House. “You could just tell that this was a different kind of athlete.” House should know — he’s coached all kinds of athletes. The Arcadia resident has been involved in the sport of weightlifting since his college days. His father-in-law was an international coach and his wife competed on a national level in the mid- 90s. Now he coaches about a dozen athletes, most of them around high school age. Some view weightlifting as their primary sport, but some use it to help them in other areas of athletics. “The kids I train do a variety of sports: baseball, football, volleyball,” he said. “I have someone who wants to be an Olympic lifter, another kid who wants to go to the naval academy, and we’re preparing him for the physical test. A week from today I’ll begin training my daughter’s volleyball team. It’s all over the place.” Zweygard had never done weightlifting before training with House. She was dating his son and became interested in the training he did with his dad. Immediately, House sensed he had a superb athlete. “She was unbelievably strong right from the start,” he said. “It’s a very complex series of movements to get the bar overhead in about three-tenths of a second, and she was picking things up very quickly. Tyera is easy to coach.” House decided to enter Zweygard into a competition fairly quickly, just to get an idea of where she was. Her first competition was in October, around six weeks after she had started training. She put up 96 kilos (about 211 pounds), a remarkable number for how little experience she had. Zweygard continued to raise her weight at subsequent competitions, getting to 118 kilos and then 128. In June of this year, USA Weightlifting held its National Youth Weightlifting Championships in Port Orange, Florida. Zweygard lifted 77 kilos overhead in the clean and jerk to win the bronze medal for that event. She placed fourth overall, an accomplishment her coach called “absolutely remarkable.” “I was thrilled for her,” House said. “Our next step is to get her to start competing on an international stage.” Tyera Zweygard became interested in weight training after watching her boyfriend lift. our swim programs are internationally-recognized stop in and find out why! FREE BABY SPLASH 8 wks - 5 mos LITTLE SNAPPERS 6 mos - 35 mos GROUP LESSONS 3 yrs - 12 yrs SPLASH, PLAY & LEARN the Hubbard way! HUBBARDSWIM.COM 602.971.4044 KACHINA Quality Dry Cleaning 602-955-5540 3926 E. Indian School Road Arcadia Family Owned & Operated Since 1959 Home & Office Pickup & Delivery Available Follow the Titans. A rcadiadaily.com Visit Sports at: 480-941-8954 9:30 – 5:30 Monday – Friday • 9:30 – 5:00 Saturday • 5625 East Indian School Road, Phoenix www.oneposhplace.com Visit our Retail Showroom Also offering Award Winning Interior Design by Paige Bailey & Associates, Inc. OnePosh_Arcadia_4-2014.qxp_Layout 2 4/3/14 1:17 AM Page 1

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW | 480-965-5812