Help me remember UK FBB from 80s

[Boyo]

Speaking of British fbbs/strong ladies, I remember reading about a British powerlifter in the early/mid 1990s. She was pretty, brunette i think, not especially big, but was way ahead on the rankings, and even ahead of a lot of  men from the same weight class. Does it ring any bells? Another one was a pretty blonde, over 40, who appeared in the News of the world magazine. From Oxford possibly. Around 1998-2000ish. She apparently held powerlifting world records. Again anyone?

I'm thinking of two women who appeared on UK Gladiators in the 90's. The brunette was Helen *Something*, a short, squat powerlifter who was European champion. She famously, when competing in "Tilt" (a tug of war type game) flexed to psyche out the Gladiator (it worked, her bicep was massive) before winning the match with one hand.

The blonde could be Rowan Duxbury. She was from the south coast but was very well spoken which perhaps made you think she was from Oxford? Duxbury was also on Gladiators. She was a big, muscular old unit who probably would have trounced the Gladiators but got injured.

[ollie703]

Speaking of British fbbs/strong ladies, I remember reading about a British powerlifter in the early/mid 1990s. She was pretty, brunette i think, not especially big, but was way ahead on the rankings, and even ahead of a lot of  men from the same weight class. Does it ring any bells? Another one was a pretty blonde, over 40, who appeared in the News of the world magazine. From Oxford possibly. Around 1998-2000ish. She apparently held powerlifting world records. Again anyone?

I'm thinking of two women who appeared on UK Gladiators in the 90's. The brunette was Helen *Something*, a short, squat powerlifter who was European champion. She famously, when competing in "Tilt" (a tug of war type game) flexed to psyche out the Gladiator (it worked, her bicep was massive) before winning the match with one hand. The blonde could be Rowan Duxbury. She was from the south coast but was very well spoken which perhaps made you think she was from Oxford? Duxbury was also on Gladiators. She was a big, muscular old unit who probably would have trounced the Gladiators but got injured.

N

[ollie703]

No idea if they are the same women i'm thinking of but karma for your efforts. The brunette, natural if i remember rightly, was way ahead of all the others. Looking at the Gladiators competitor list for 1993 there was one called Helen Williams; however, I found nothing on google relating to her. Regarding the blonde, it may be Rowan, not sure. All i remember was that she was relatively slim, over 40, pretty, and her hair wasn't long. I may be mistaken about Oxford - may have been Cambridge, but certainly from the south. The memory plays tricks after a dozen years; but I remember reading about her in the News of the World mag, on holiday in Cornwall maybe in aug 2000, and how she held world records. And i remember reading in a girlfriend's woman's mag about a fbb from the North East who had taken up bodybuilding with her boyfriend (who was big himself)and became stronger than him! She was pretty tall, very big, with quite prominent teeth and long hair...this was also around 2000.

[Timmon]

Rowan Duxbury lived in my childhood hometown, Sidmouth, in Devon. I knew her casually, and used to bump into her in Somerfield ( I think it was called Richway at the time, before becoming Somerfield, the store has had a few names since it opened). I joked with her once that she was always looking into the chicken counter whenever I saw her!
She entered the South West shows, including the Sidmouth Classic competition. When I knew her, she was married to a lorry driver, but I believe that all went tits up. She moved away from Sidmouth (Always known locally as the Sidmouth Bodybuilder) for a while, but I believe she is back in the South West again now. She was on Gladiators, but was ill, and did not perform as well as expected.

Here are some recent pics of her on the hills around Sidmouth. Beautiful countryside which I miss, and she makes it look even lovelier.


Some about Rowan and Gladiators, and the lovely muscles I actually saw myself in Sidmouth.

[Timmon]

Further, I have found some archive material of Rowan ( Gibbons ) Duxbury, from when she was an FBB. I actually have some of the newspaper clips here, but lucky for me, these are on the web already.
 I was a facebook friend of Rowan's but she has taken herself off facebook, sadly.

[ollie703]

Karma for your interesting contribution. Seems she was more of a bodybuilder than powerlifter. However, if the N of the W mag contained regional stories, the fact that I was in the South West at the time strongly suggests it was her. Perhaps Oxford was one of the places where she competed....

[marksman]

I think that Joey Bull could be the name you are looking for.

[marksman]

...and even if it wasn't her.  I always used to look forward to the new catalogue to see the pics of Joey!
She has a nice website now with lots of pics, so I probably wouldn't bother with the catalogue now, even if she did appear in it again!

[ollie703]

no not joey bull. i think she was strictly a fitness competitor and i doubt ever lifted anything heavy..though i would love to be proved wrong

[bigboy1313131]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591062/Former-Olympic-star-58-died-suddenly-heart-failure-sunbathing-topless-garden.html
 i am so sorry