Pietermaritzburg-born-and-bred powerlifting legend — and multiple times world champion — Phil Niemandt, died recently.
Schooled at Alexandra High and once the owner of Warren’s Gym, he entered the sport aged 37, making his debut at an event held in a school hall in Durban and “blew everyone out of the water”, according to his widow, Amy, who he married in 1985.
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“He was just training at the old Warren’s Gym when it was suggested to him that he try powerlifting and he proved a natural,” said Amy.
She said that unlike many powerlifters who scream and banged their heads, he was “a quiet lifter”. Among his powerlifting achievements were his competition squat of 400kg, achieved at the 1993 WPC World Championships in France.
It was an equipped squat, rather than a raw squat. Equipped lifting uses specialised supportive gear that can support the lifter during the lifting attempt.
He competed against some of the strongest super-heavy weight powerlifters of his era, winning the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) events in France in 1993; the United States in 1994; the United Kingdom in 1997; Austria in 1998; Canada in 1999 and the United States in 2000.
In 1996, he won a separate WPC competition, the WPC Can-Am World Cup in the USA. Off the performing platform, Niemandt served as vice President of the World Powerlifting Congress’s Africa region and helped organize a championship meeting in Durban in 1996.
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On one occasion, he found himself in the same hotel as boxing great. George Foreman, when they both had victories to celebrate, Niemandt sent him a congratulatory message and out of that grew a friendship that traversed their sporting interests to their love of animals.
They would speak with one another about ways to help them.
“Phil was always saddened and hurt by cruelty, abandonment and neglect of animals,” said Amy.
Niemandt, described as “a giant with the heart of a kitten”, also extended his charitable work to children, sitting chatting to children suffering from cancer in hospices, offering inspiration.
Amy said he also dressed as Santa and gave presents to underprivileged kids. He exercised his brute strength in pulling a Boeing 747 for 30m at then-Jan Smuts (now OR Tambo) International Airport, equipped with a harness.
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He repeated the feat several times with the horse section of a heavy-duty truck outside the Pietermaritzburg City Hall after having suffered a heart attack and had a triple bypass operation.
Niemandt repeated another truck pull at Makro, Camps Drift.
“There were no crowds,” their daughter, Roxane, said of this achievement.
“He just wanted to prove he could still do it.”
He also pulled 10 Isuzu bakkies outside the Pietermaritzburg Oval for charity.
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Reflecting on her childhood, Roxane said: “He gave me tough love. He wanted me to be a strong, independent woman. He called me ‘Boy’ to tease me. I got my competitiveness from him.” Roxane said he also pushed her hard, such as when she ended up receiving an impromptu training session in the gym and, when she was beyond exhausted, he came up with a “cheeky grin”.
“We were proud of each other – when I was assistant referee of the year for the Midlands Rugby Association, he was very proud”.
It was a pride he shared with his close friend, former Springbok rugby player Kevin De Klerk. “ He was also very proud of me becoming a Level 2 cricket umpire. He came to my games.”
“Every child says their dad is the best. I was very lucky. He represented the country seven times. And he was a very protective dad and husband.”
She added: “And from a daughters point, we were two peas in a pod, dad was very protective over me. A father is a daughter’s first love.
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Clashes of interest erupted while watching rugby in the Niemandt home. “He was an avid Bull Bulls supporter, something he inherited from my ‘Oupa’. I am a Sharks supporter and my mother sat on the fence.”
Then there was Niemandt’s love of Elvis Pressly’s music. Springbok powerlifter Belinda Webbstock, whom Niemandt coached and mentored, recalled their watching a tribute to Elvis show together at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Phil was so emotional watching it as he had a lifelong love for Elvis,” she wrote in a tribute on Facebook.
“He was so well known and well loved. Powerlifting is a huge sport in America, and I can remember walking along the strip in Vegas with Phil … and hearing some American kids saying, ‘Hey look, there is Big Phil Niemandt’. And he took the time to talk to them all.”
Niemandt leaves Amy and Roxane — and, not to be omitted, his 13-year-old Staffordshire terrier, Freyja.
