Return to KB Sport Series #3: Will Metcalf

I discovered Kettlebell Sport in 2008. My first competition was in 2009, where I competed in OALC… HAH then it all went down hill from there so to speak! I spent the next year and a half chasing my tail in terms of what to do with my lifting, but falling deeper in love with the sport. I remember at the Arnold Classic in 2010 I lifted 32kg for the Strong Sport event. I did 16 reps a side for four minutes -  and I thought I was hardcore. Then I saw Marty Farrell doing things I couldn’t imagine with 2x32kg. That was it - it was game time!  Shortly thereafter I met my coach Chris Duffy and started training.

I made my first attempt at Candidate for Master of Sport (CMS) in 2010 and tore my hand during 28kg Snatch. Shortly thereafter I suffered a nasty ankle sprain. As I recovered from that, I realized it was time to get serious and chase CMS again. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm about a week later! I tell people all the time you know you have the right coach when you wake up in the neurological ICU and he's there telling you it's not quite time to think of lifting but soon.

A day or two before surgery I did 24kg Biathlon: 100 jerk and 200 snatch, like it was nothing. After surgery, in which I had a 1/3 craniotomy, I was all ready to get back to where I was. My first attempt post-surgery I swung an 8kg kettlebell - I did 15 repetitions then slept for seven hours! That was the wake up call - I literally had to progress back to the 12kg for Biathlon. Snatch came easy to me, like it always had, but the jerks would kill me.  Week by week I'd gain a little bit, and the fatigue slowly subsided. But I swear starting over and letting go of the ego that told me where I should have been was what made me a better lifter. It isn't until you identify and accept your flaws that you can actually fix them.

Ten weeks after surgery I was back training and more driven than ever. Sixteen weeks after brain surgery I was thrilled to earn my CMS at the WKC event in Chicago.

Since then I have had thyroid cancer as well as a few knee injuries and surgeries. Through it all I have stuck with the same coach, the same programming style, and the same understanding that I am my worst enemy and don’t do well when left to my own devices! I often feel like I've been at this so long but then I look to Duffy, Marty, Lorna Kleidman, Cate Imes, and Lorrain Patten (always behind the scenes), and it reminds me I still have a few lifts left to pull off.

Will grew up in mid-state New York and played college football. After a few knee injuries and the realization that a pro football career wasn't in the works, he ended up going to the Culinary Institute of America to chase his dream of being a chef. Will has an AA in Culinary Arts and a BA in Hotel Restaurant Management. He has worked in the food service industry in all forums, from a boutique Mobil 5-star Restaurant as a Maitre D to running a college that serves 40,000 meals a day.

Will lives with my soulmate Melissa in Lenox Mass where they have been for 16 years.  Aside from Kettlebell Sport, Will dabbles in Olympic lifting, mountain biking, and cycling.