General News
24 November, 2025
Our strongest woman earns a surprise invitation
LOCAL Business woman Hayley Collicoat has been left stunned after receiving an unexpected invitation to compete among Australia’s strongest women. Hayley will compete in the under-73kg category at Australia’s Strongest in May 2026 in Sydney, a moment she says came completely out of the blue.
“It’s funny, so I competed in South Australia a couple of months ago,” she said, on her appearance in South Australia’s Strongest.
“But I was only going to fill numbers. My trainer, she was going to qualify. I said, ‘I’ll just fill some gaps, that’s fine.’ It was my first real competition.”
The event included sandbag-to-shoulder lifts, deadlifts and farmers carry challenges.
“There was a group of us, and we all got together and trained really hard,” she said.
“It was a really good experience and I was like, what have I got to lose? A bit of time and some petrol money.”
With only two weeks’ notice and competing without her full training load behind her, Hayley entered simply for the experience.
“Since I was there for fun anyway and just to get the experience, I didn’t think anything of it. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t put the work in because I’m just here for shits and gigs,” she laughed. “And then all of a sudden I’m qualifying.”
Hayley said the sport has quickly become something she genuinely enjoys.
“I fell into this by accident to begin with, and I found I really enjoyed it. It takes out the mundane repetition of going to the gym and doing weights,” she said. “I got the experience I wanted.”
Her shock only grew when the official invitation arrived.
“Then I got an official invitation and it said I’d qualified to compete on the Australian stage,” she said.
“I’m like, are you sure you have the right person? I don’t think this is correct.”
With the national stage ahead, she knows the hard work now begins.
“I’m just nervous, mainly because it’s unexpected. But I’ve also seen the weights, so I’ve got some work to do.”
Even with the pressure building, Hayley says she wants to stay grounded.
“I don’t want to take it too seriously, and I don’t want to take the fun out of what I’m doing because I am really enjoying this space of lifting and enjoying the journey.”
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