Determined. Confident. Mature. Those are three qualities to describe senior Layth Haddawy, who broke the national record for athletes ages 16-17 in the 148-pound-and-under category at a local powerlifting meet on April 18.
Haddawy first came into the 2026 USPA power lifting competition at Get Bent gym in Oakland thinking he would only be able to deadlift 550 pounds. The competition, however, took an unexpected turn.
“While I was warming up, everything just felt super light, and I was like, ‘I don’t know why, but something right now feels really good,” Haddawy said.
The stakes were high, but after warming up, Haddawy talked to his coach about lowering the weight on his other attempts so he could conserve as much energy as possible for a national record attempt. He moved steadily through the first three lifts: 475 pounds, then 520, then 540, each one moving him closer to his final attempt. Then came a short three-minute break, when his coach told him to lay down and listen to music to recuperate as much as possible.
Three minutes later, it was time to risk it all.
“When I walked up to the bar, I was fairly confident that I could do it, but I just needed to make sure that I kept every cue in mind,” Haddawy said.
Those two cues were to stay patient and stay as upright as possible.
Sticking to that plan, Haddawy made his fourth and final attempt. It was then that he set the national record, lifting 570 pounds and breaking the previous record of 568 pounds.
Haddawy’s mother, Tatiana Haddawy, said Haddawy has always known he wanted to go into fitness.
“When he was in first grade, he made a picture of what he wanted to be when he grew up, and it was a personal trainer. Then in eighth grade, he just started to get up and go work out,” Tatiana said.
As for powerlifting, Haddawy said that he first started his sophomore year after realizing that he didn’t enjoy playing football.
“I had been doing football, but I didn’t really enjoy it, but I did like lifting with the team. So I thought, ‘What if I just did lifting as my sport?” Haddawy said.
Two years later, Haddawy has gone from a beginner in the sport to competing on the national level. He is one of four high school seniors — two boys and two girls — in the Get Bent Youth Power Lifting team.
“The fact that I’m able to get that far into what the top people in the U.S. are doing, it makes me think that eventually it might be possible to try and qualify for Team USA,” Haddawy said.
Haddaway’s journey has not been without challenges, despite his incredible success.
“I have a history of injury with my hips and it kind of culminated with one of my legs. I tore this spot between my hamstring and my adductor and I couldn’t do anything leg related for almost five months,” Haddawy said.
Even with the setback, Haddawy bounced back. He said that he goes to the gym seven days a week, powerlifting four of those days, and doing lighter mobility workouts the other three days.
“I’m proud of his grit and determination. He doesn’t ask permission. He doesn’t ask for help. He just goes and does whatever he says he’s going to do. It’s quite amazing and he’s always been that way. No matter what his passion,” Tatiana said.
That determination is something that senior Robyn Kim, a powerlifter herself, said she noticed too. She said that Haddawy is a very goal-oriented person.
“He’s very good at not making excuses for things,” Kim said. “He’s definitely working towards a certain goal every time he’s [at the gym], which I think is good for progress.”
With so much time invested in powerlifting, Haddawy said that cooking became a big part of his lifestyle. He said that as of right now, he enjoys making steaks and eating fruit.
“He’s very precise about what he eats, when he eats, and how many macros he gets,” Tatiana said. “It’s a science all in itself.”
Technicalities aside, Haddaway said that the most important thing is to stay true to yourself.
“Try not to chase numbers. A lot of the time, you get really attached to hitting a certain number, doing a certain thing, and then you end up [messing] up your own training,” he said. “You’re not going to be able to do as well as somebody that slowly worked their way up to that.”