A genetic hip defect put an end to the Mudgee local's six-year long raw lifting stint, but his debut performance in the equipped division on May 1 proved his lifting days are not over.

McDonald broke the world record for open, all ages and the sub masters in the squat only event in Dubbo, lifting 361 kilograms.

In the full power category, McDonald posted a 367.5kg squat to break the Australian record for his age (33-39). He then bench pressed 220kgs to break another Australian age record.

McDonald finished off the day with another world record-breaking result in the deadlift for his age with 332.5kgs.

"We got through the whole competition without any injuries or mishaps so I don't have to retire. After winning Nationals, we're ranked number one in the country. It's an excellent result," McDonald said.

"I had 11 successful attempts that ended up giving me a 920 kilo total. It put me in first place for squat only and three-lift in my weight class. I also had the highest coefficient score of the day that gave me the overall win."

McDonald was joined in success on the day by his protégée, Cooper Hinton who took best squat (100kg), bench (60kg) and deadlift (122.5kg) to win the 82kg class for boys 15 to 17 years.

"Watching Cooper have such a good day...and when they called his name to go and get his medal, it was a better feeling than any of the stuff that I had accomplished for the day," McDonald said.

"I've coached him since he was 11. He had a perfect day, perfect performance and earned everything he got."

On the surface, powerlifting appears an individual sport but according to McDonald, the results can't be achieved without the people who do the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

"They're individual performances but it's definitely a team sport. Without their support, it doesn't happen," he said.

"My coach, Will Hunt and I started planning for this competition in December last year but we've been consistently training for around six years, building to get up to where we are now.

"Diet wise, I have a lady called Michelle Del Guzzo who looks after my nutrition. Will does all the programming and planning. I just execute both of their plans."

With a Nationals title in his belt, McDonald and his team eye off the next opportunity to take on the world.

"Our next goal is to win a world title, we've won an Australian title so now we need to travel overseas to the next world championships. We'll have to wait and see what COVID has in store for us," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: