Navy veterans Lydia and Eddie Parra have been looking for something to keep themselves physically active since retiring from the military. When they moved from California to Florida, they were looking for a new gym and came across a Crossfit box in Lithia called Crossfit For Glory. After doing Crossfit for a couple of years, they started getting involved with Olympic weightlifting.
Lydia and Eddie, also known as Team Parra, qualified for the International Weightlifting Federation Master’s World Championship in Barcelona, Spain this August after lifting weights for 15 months. They qualified when they lifted in front of the international judges in Miami at a meet in April. The meet in Spain is the equivalent of the Olympics in this sport for their particular age group of 35 and older. Eddie is currently the Florida State Champ in the 105+ kg group. They will both represent team USA.
The family’s motto is Hard Work Pays Off. The Parras want to show their young children Eva, 12, and Maximus, three, that hard work and dedication trumps everything else. Eva is an accomplished weightlifter as well. She is a National Silver Medalist in Olympic Weightlifting and is currently ranked number two in the nation in the 48 kilo weight class/11 and under age group. She will accompany her parents to Spain in August.
There are two particular lifts that they will have to do for the competition: the Clean and Jerk, and Snatch. Lydia can Snatch 149 pounds and she can Clean and Jerk 190 pounds. Eddie can Snatch 275 pounds and can Clean and Jerk roughly 330 pounds. To prepare for the meet, they work out five days a week for two and a half hours each day at Crossfit For Glory with their coach, Josh Martin. Their ultimate goal is to get on the podium at the IWF Master’s World Championship. “We want to be world champions,” said Eddie. “We are legitimately in the hunt for a top spot at that podium.”
Team Parra is asking for help from the community to assist them in paying for some of the expenses of traveling to Barcelona. Lydia via their GoFundMe page: “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being a part of our journey!” If you would like to donate, you can visit their GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/TeamParra.
