Powerlifter Robert Herbst of Larchmont, already a member of the Westchester Sports Hall of Fame, continues to add to his legacy, winning his 15th consecutive and 23rd career national championship.

Herbst took the title this year in the Masters 3 middleweight division (165 lbs.) at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Raw National Powerlifting Championships held in Scituate, Mass.

He also took third in the Open division.

Herbst had lifts of 127.5 kgs. (281 pounds) in the squat, 120 kgs. (264 lbs.) in the bench press, and 185 kgs. (408 lbs.) in the deadlift, for a total of 432 kgs. (952 lbs.).

And he accomplished all that while battling severe pain in his shoulder without any aids. Raw competitors are drug-free and can not use supportive wraps.

“The boys I coach in Babe Ruth baseball tease me when I throw the ball back to them underhand,” Herbst said, “But I am glad to be able to bench press with only soreness instead of the agony I felt last fall. If I have a few good cycles over the summer, I hope to get my lifts back up to a world-class level.” He will next compete in the World Drug Free Powerlifting Championships Nov. 13 in Dundalk, Ireland.

Herbst, an attorney in New York City, has won 11 world championships and currently holds seven world records, both open and age group.

In winning at nationals, Herbst also kept pace with the men’s squash team at his alma mater, Trinity College, which recently won its 12th consecutive national championship.

Herbst and the collegians have been supporting each other via e-mail through the pressures of keeping their streaks alive.

“We are all in uncharted territory,” Herbst said. “When it was three in a row, it was a ‘three-peat.’ At nine, we called it a ‘cubepeat.’ Now we don’t know what to call it. We are just doing everything we can to keep things going.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 9:30 am and is filed under Powerlifting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.