Meet Austyn Ryan.
“I grew up in Cornwall and Kingston. I came to Ottawa to attend Algonquin College. I graduated from the Fitness and Health Promotion program. I now work at a local fitness facility as a strength and conditioning coach. I get to meet all kinds of new people from all walks of life, and I get to help them along their way. Recently I travelled to Regina, Saskatchewan and competed in the Canadian Power Lifting Championships, where I placed second in my age and weight category. Power lifting is three attempts of your best squat, bench and dead lift. Those weights are totaled and the highest total wins. This is my first real season competing in the sport. I tried it before and didn’t really like it until I met a group of people here in Ottawa from Carleton. I started training with them and I grew to love it. In Provincials I came third, but I beat the guy who beat me at Nationals. I was able to beat him because I hired a really good strength coach. He took my training seriously and I made a lot of good progressions in a short amount of time. Our sport is recognized by the Olympics and someday I hope it’s a medal sport. Competing at the Olympics would be every Canadian kid’s dream, including mine. When I was in elementary school, I competed in high jump and dreamed of competing in the Olympics. My goal is to be in the Olympics one day. I heard a quote a few weeks ago that I love and really resonated with me and where I want to go in my life: ‘Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour.’ You can’t succeed without failure.” Collected by Ellen Bond
Humans of Kitchissippi is a special street photography project designed to introduce readers to some of the people who live, work, and play in Kitchissippi. Each instalment of HOK contains three elements: a photo, a name, and a quote from the subject that reveals a little bit about who they are. View our growing collection of humans right here.