ESS is a powerlifting based gym in Melbourne’s West. Founded in 2022 by Michael Porsovigan, Tony Nguyen and Vinning Mak, their gym is an inclusive and open space for powerlifters, strength athletes and regular gym-goers.

Head coach, Michael, has guided ESS to second place in 2024 and third place in 2023. Climbing the ranks, the team is hungry to take the W in 2025.

Bringing a whole new quad to 2025, their team will consists of John Chan, Aaron Tran-Hoang, Steven Hoang and Carmen De Dominico.

Apex Strength are a strength and powerlifting club located in Coburg, Melbourne. Owned and operated by head coach Tyler Seabrook, this will be Apex’s third showing at the Team Champs.

Apex are a hot contender at Team Champs, having placed third in 2025. With three of their four lifters from last year returning in 2025, Apex will again be one to look out for.

Representing Apex this year will be Lota Leinberga, Gabriel Lattouf and Tony Reinmuth (all returning from 2024), and Adwoah Hammond joining the ranks.

The Crundall Crew are a powerlifting team led by coach Matt Crundall. A successful competitive powerlifter in his own right, Matt has a firm reputation as a knowledgeable and successful coach with numerous lifters competing at the national level.

Crundall Crew are yet to podium at Team Champs but are always right up in there in the mix, taking sixth place in 2024. An excellent game-day coach, Matt takes the competitive aspect of powerlifting very seriously and you know that his attempt selection will be absolutely clutch to score the maximum points possible.

Their team of four will this year consist of Jessica Lam, Victor Mey, Stephanie Hong and Conor Warren.

SR Strength Collective is a strength and powerlifting gym located in Altona. They are one of two teams competing in the Premier Bracket for the first time, following successful promotion from the Challengers in 2024.

Co-owner and Coach Daniel Featherstone coached the 2024 team to this result, and previously coached the Melbourne University Powerlifting Club Team at the Team Champs 2023. With a wealth of experience, Daniel will be eager to leave his mark from the Premier Bracket.

SR is to be represented in 2025 by a whole new team of four: Aaron Carew, Lagi Fruean, Edgar Degay and Dani Biscocho.

Stronghold Ballarat, formerly Ben’s Army, is a Ballarat based gym. Their huge 1000 square meter facility is a haven for all sorts of strength and fitness pursuits from powerlifting to strongman to bodybuilding and weightlifting.

Stronghold will be battling it out in the the Premier Bracket for the first timein 2025 following a successful promotion from the Challengers Bracket in their 2024 debut.

Headed by Chris Whyte, they will be represented by lifters Tracy Keough, Tyson Andrews, Aaron Grant and Jason Oakley.

On home turf, TSF took the win in the first two years of the Team Champs in 2018 and 2019.

In 2024, we were relegated from the Premier Bracket to Challengers and this year we are damn hungry to prove ourselves and reclaim our spot among the top teams.

This year we will be proudly represented by Head Coach Josh Luu, and Minh Duong, Pam Alcantara, Lachlan Norberg and Kaley Nguyen.

Groove Lifting Club is the lifting and social club, headed by Alex Dellaportas, based out of 3-Point Performance in Port Melbourne.

2025 marks Groove’s third appearance at Team Champs, although the team formally competed under the 3-Point Performance brand. The team have represented themselves beautifully over the last two years, really cementing themselves as the lifting and social club, with equal parts professionalism and vibes.

Groove will be represented this year by Jonathan Fung, Brochelle Georgeson, Wendy Waddell and Kane Daniel.

Jess Liu

Lina Tran

Jacob Duong