MARCH 13, 2012
\nby Sara Morano ’14, Contributing Writer<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really have much down time,\u201d says sophomore Andrew \u201cTank\u201d Phillips, echoing something that is often heard among students on Furman\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n
As Phillips continues to explain his busy schedule, though, he makes a claim that, as of February 11, can rightfully be made by no one else in the world: \u201cI was running drills in practice up until Thursday, then setting the record on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phillips is a super heavyweight powerlifter for Furman\u2019s competitive team, as well as an offensive lineman in football.\u00a0He has carried his nickname, \u201cTank,\u201d which the 296-pound offensive lineman needs only explain with a shrug, since he started playing football and lifting weights with his dad, a master-level powerlifter, in the fourth grade.<\/p>\n
Phillips set his world record by\u00a0squatting 575 pounds\u00a0in the 20-23-year-old division of the World Natural Powerlifting Federation (WNPF)\u2019s All-Raw Tournament of Champions, held in Furman\u2019s Herman Lay Physical Activities Center\u00a0last month.<\/p>\n
The Tournament of Champions\u00a0ranks the results of powerlifting meets in New Jersey, Ohio and Florida with the Furman-hosted South Carolina meet to determine its winners. It was only Phillips\u2019 second meet, but in addition to the world record,\u00a0he set state records\u00a0for the power curl total and deadlift.<\/p>\n
According to Health Sciences professor Tony Caterisano, who\u00a0with Coach John Sisk led Furman\u2019s WNPF-titled team, Phillips\u2019 training and successes have made him \u201ca fine representative of a long line of varsity football players who have joined\u00a0with the powerlifting team to represent Furman in world competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caterisano also noted the progress\u00a0the February meet marked in Phillips\u2019 powerlifting career, saying, \u201cTank has shown a real improvement from last May when he competed in his first meet for Furman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phillips said he was\u00a0surprised by this improvement. In addition to the world record, he\u00a0broke his own personal record in competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew going in that you could set world records [at the WNPF meet], but I didn\u2019t know that I was close enough to break it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His defeat of an international powerlifting champion, previous record-holder Nodar Tatishvili of the Georgia National Team, was similarly an accomplishment of unanticipated gravitas.<\/p>\n