Hometown kettlebell athlete becomes international champ

Teri Stabler reached 200 reps last month as she competed in the Kettlebell World Championships in Dublin’s female amateur division for women 18 and up, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough. In the end, she beat 31 competitors, finishing fifth.

Stabler, 52, a procurement liaison with the Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department who has worked for the county since 2001, was disappointed. But two days later came victory. She competed in the category for women ages 50 to 54 and won a gold medal for Team USA.

Stabler was overwhelmed just to compete at the world championships, held at the University of Dublin.

“It was numbing for me to realize I’m with all these other great professional athletes,” she said.

Stabler first stopped at Punch Kettleball Gym in Sarasota five years ago out of curiosity.

“When Teri first came in here, she was way out of shape,” said Jay Trunzo, Stabler’s coach at Punch. “She was doing all the wrong things. To have her come that far is just amazing.”

Stabler spent three years training six days per week to perfect her form and build endurance.

Trunzo said kettlebell is a brutal, difficult sport.

“It’s not for everybody,” he said.

Competitors use one hand to hoist a handled steel sphere that weighs between 25 and 35 pounds from the ground and lift it overhead, holding it there for a second or two before lowering to the ground and starting the movement again. In 10 minutes, athletes complete as many repetitions as possible.

Stabler was able to compete in Dublin after tying for first place at a national competition in August in Chicago.

“I had to win in Chicago,” Stabler said. “Getting (to Ireland) was my goal. Winning was icing on the cake.”

Stabler, whose Parks and Reccreation colleagues helped her raise money to compete, hopes to inspire her family, particularly her three children, Amanda, Alysia and Adam, and her granddaughter, Abby.

She hopes to compete when the world championships come to the United States, which she heard could happen as early as 2017.

 “It’s going to be a different intensity because I’m done with the amateur,” Stabler said. “I have to move up and in order to do that I have to compete professionally.”