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Jim Williams
 Jim Williams benches 625 to beat Pat Casey's 606 record.  Jim Williams, discovering his 625 bench was actually 628. Wicked Willie writes: Wiiliam's best "official" bench (meaning in a full contest, with certified judges and scales) was 675 lbs. Unofficially, in the old York gym, he did 700 lbs. and 720 lbs. as a training single...if you care to believe. His bench was clean...just a tee shirt and singlet as you see in the photo above. Elbow wraps of a measured length were allowed and inspected and measured after any record attempt. Quoted and paraphrased from this article MILO magazine, Vol.1#2 July 1993 "Jim Williams: 700 in the 70s" Vada Crosby: "During the 70s, Williams, standing six feet tall, weighed about 330 pounds. He had 24 inch arms, a 60 inch chest, a 46 inch waist, 36 inch thighs, a 24 inch neck, 23 inch calves and 20 inch forearms. Massive." A sample squat routine: 225x10, 315x10, 405x3, 475x3, 575x3, 705x2, 770x2, 805x2, 850x1, 500x1 "Williams used to bench a grueling five days a week, always using medium to heavy weights....""When I'm talking about maximum weight, but minimum reps, which would allow you to lift every single day."" His bench press routine included: 225x10, 315x8, 405x5, 475x5, 525x3, 600x5, 630x4 and 500 x10." He was credited with an official 675 bench (no wraps other than Ace bandages on elbows of a specified length) while wearing a cotton tee shirt and a singlet. He benched 700 in the York gym in 1972...despite the presence of three international referees who witnessed the lift...it was never entered as an official record. Best lifts (I'm assuming unofficial gym lifts) 720 bench, 900 squat, 815 deadlift. (His size interferred with proper positioning for a maximum deadlift pull.) He did do some jail time...a subject he prefers not to talk about. "I did something wrong and I paid for it." A few years ago, Williams suffered a stroke and is still recovering. No longer massive at 280 lbs. he still has the "eye of the tiger." Wicked Willie adds: Just to clarify: Williams' 675 bench was an official lift at a sanctioned meet...the 1972 World Powerlifting Championship. The 700 at the York gym COULD have been submitted as a World Record (the referee requirement had been satisfied) but I don't know if certified scales were available...but it seems reasonable to assume that the York gym would have them. The Olympic Team was training in the gym the same day...and all stopped to watch the big guys (Williams and Kuc). Plus, they used MOST of the weights that were available! Williams was not a "gym lifter" and was irritated by the many records that were claimed by "unknowns" that didn't lift in large, sanctioned meets. He wanted to have world records in powerlifting only recognized in large meets...such as the World's or as he proposed a "World Record Setting Meet." (Something like this was tried once or twice in Olympic lifting...it failed miserably, with almost no records being set at the meet.) John Kuc remembered the York gym lift and stated "That was more enjoyable to watch than the 675 (official) lift, but it wasn't official."
Sadly, Jim Williams has gone on to his reward: his obituary. Last edited by Laree. Contributors: ccrow and Laree |