From the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Islander
Ron Jones will never forget the first time he saw Betty Lafferty. In fact, he fondly recalls the day his new acquaintance working out in the same gym called him out on his workouts.

“She called me a sandbagger,” Jones said, still laughing at the event. “She said ‘you could lift a lot more than you do’. “She’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

Lafferty and Jones have been almost constant companions since. During that time Lafferty has time and again broken world records for powerlifting. At least 29 times she has set a new mark in her age and weight classes.

The 69-year-old competes in the 105-pound and 114-pound division. Her best bench press is 168 pounds and her best deadlift is 216. Lafferty currently hold seven world records according to the World Association of Bench Pressers and Deadlifters website.

Recently the Gulf Shores City Council gave her an accommodation for her accomplishments in the gym.
Jones got Lafferty to attend the meeting with a ruse. “We surprised her,” Jones said. “We live on the beach and sometimes they put all those tents on the beach and I told her we were going to the council to tell them we didn’t appreciate the tents being left up.” She was unaware an honor was coming. “I thought we were going to discuss that,” she said. Those in attendance gave Lafferty a standing ovation.

“That was really nice,” Lafferty said. “I was very honored. It’s not like I saved someone from a burning building. I was just doing what I do.” Another honor Lafferty received was a plaque from the WABDL detailing her many accomplishments, including setting 27 world records. “She’s broken two more world records since they gave her the plaque,” Jones said. Lafferty was left wondering if they were kindly ushering her out.

“I’m not retiring,” she said. “Are y’all kicking me out? I keep breaking them. I kept breaking my own records.” Jones has become her official trophy barer, something he sometimes gets recognition for.
“I went through the Atlanta airport once and I had all these trophies and everybody was congratulating me and she said ‘aren’t you going to tell ‘em,’” Jones said. “I said ‘tell ‘em what?’ I had my 15 minutes of fame.

“Somebody asked ‘what are those for?’ And I said in a deep voice ‘powerlifting.’ I didn’t tell ‘em they were mine.” Part of Lafferty’s legacy has been inspiring others. “I wasn’t a powerlifter before I met her,” Jones said. “Now I’ve set 12 Alabama state records in three weight classes.” Hellen Herring of Gulf Shores was inspired by Lafferty to enter competitions and now holds two world records in the 80-84 age group herself, both coming in July of 2011.

Lafferty first tried weights as a way to battle injuries from playing tennis and long-distance running. She has finished seven marathons including the 100th Boston Marathon. But injuries halted her running career and she picked up another way to get her exercise in. “Then I got injured and I met a powerlifter in the gym,” she said. “All of my injuries were from running. I’ve never been injured lifting weights.”

The friend talked her into attending a powerlifting competition in Gulf Shores in 2000. At her first meet she also set her first world record. “I broke somebody’s world record then and they wanted me to come to the world championships and I did,” she said. “It was in Portland, Ore., that year. “I just kept doing it. It was fun. It gives you a reason to work out if you have a goal. And I enjoy it.”

Now younger lifters ask her who she’s able to lift so much. “I just tell them I’ve been going it a long time,” she said. “ Consistency. That’s the key.“I tell some of them ‘my belt is older than you.’ And it is.”