1999 Jan Tana (NPC Fitness)
By Jabber


Yeah, yeah, you guys are probably least interested in this segment of the
review, I know.  To tell you the truth, for various reasons I wasn't able to
hang around for the official decision, so in the short class, I really don't
know who the winner was.  But...  this was Bethany Howlett's "fitness"
debut...

Still reading?

In the short class (as with the tall) there were only two competitors.  Both
women were blonde or blondish, and quite frankly, I was pleasantly surprised
with the decent caliber of their routines (considering how the Pro Fitness
competitor's routines varied wildly in quality).  The first out was Laurie
Kimes, and the second competitor was Peggy Crawford, who did a routine to
the musical Grease, complete with her "Peggy Sue" get-up.  I found both
routines immensely watchable - yet somewhat forgettable at the same time.

In the tall class, in 2nd place was "our" Bethany Howlett.  I'd talked to
Bethany's boyfriend, Shari "King" Kamali after the routine.  He was
disappointed that Bethany was still quite heavy at 160 lbs.  Her goal was to
be 135 lbs for fitness (which, ahem she missed).  I asked him what's wrong
with being big (in the case of Bethany)?  He said it hampers her ability to
do fitness moves - he made no mention about fitness judges bias against the
girls deemed too big and/or too muscular.  Interesting.  I got a totally
different reading from her routine.

She did some tremendous high-flying flips in the beginning -
attention-getting and reasonably well-executed.  Seeing a female that
muscular (still) and NOT willing to flex one iota (other fitness competitors
sometimes do) I am always disappointed in.  However, interestingly, I found
when she did the strength moves, she was a bit weak.  She did very shallow
one-arm push-ups and not much else that her large muscular frame would
indicate she should excel in.

I did NOT find her high-flying maneuvers hampered by her bulk, but was
impressed with her movement.  I find she needs to concentrate on the basics.
It's kind of embarrassing for her to be blown into the weeds in one-arm
push-ups by a girl with only 11 1/2" arms, no?  After the show, among other
things, I suggested to Bethany she needed to flex.  She responded, "I'm no
longer in bodybuilding."  But did she flex in her next show?  Stay tuned...

Not that I had a tape measure out (to measure the 11 1/2" arms), but the
winner of the tall class (and I believe overall - don't shoot me if I'm
wrong here) was Dena Weiner.  Another pert fitness competitor, she did
something that is always, to me, a neat idea.  She made sure her music
incorporated her name.  Therefore, the audience remembers to place her
routine with her name.  Another cute but somewhat forgettable routine.