A MEMBER of New Era Fitness in Yeadon has gone from being introduced to the sport to winning four European powerlifting medals in just 11 months.

The lifting potential of 15-year-old Skipton Girls' High School pupil Lucy Robinson was spotted by Chris Baldwin, a conditioning coach at Bradford Esprit Diving Club where she is a member.

The upshot is that, after becoming British sub-junior under-57kg champion, the Eldwick teenager won a silver medal and three bronzes at the European Women's Classic Championships in Thisted, Denmark.

Lucy's dad Tim explained: "The divers do some lifting as part of their training, and Chris said to me 'You don't realise how strong your daughter is. I want to enter her into some competitions'.

"She entered the British Junior Classic at Ashington in October and lifted 100kg in the squat, 50kg in the bench press and 127kg in the deadlift (a British sub-junior record) for a combined total of 277kg.

"Lucy, who trains at New Era Fitness in Yeadon, was then asked to attend Development Association training and was picked for the Great Britain team to go to Denmark, where she won bronzes in the squat, bench press and overall and silver in the deadlift.

"She is now waiting to find out if she has been chosen for the Great Britain team to go to the World Championships in Minsk, Belarus in June."