BC & Western Canada Bodybuilders
On this page:
Shane Fraser
| Reza Torabi |
Manny Valenti | John
Xuereb | Corky Fontana
| Tim Nytchay
Shane Fraser
At 6'3" and 240 lbs. contest weight,
Shane is one of BC's many impressive novice heavyweights. These pictures
were taken at the 1995 Hard Rock Classic novice qualifier in Victoria,
BC, at which Shane won the Heavyweight title. Shane is a foreman and manager
for a large BC construction firm and is also a licensed stunt man.
Reza Torabi
Reza is the holder of the 1996 Canadian
Light Heavyweight Championship and is becoming a familiar face in BC and
Canadian bodybuilding. Before moving to Canada, Reza had won the Mr. Iran
title in Tehran. Winner of the 1993 Gator's Classic novice qualifier in
the Middleweight division, Reza went on to win the Middleweight class at
the 1994 BC Championships the following spring, losing the Overall in a
tie-breaker. Reza has placed regularly in Western Canada and Canadian Championship
shows since then, winning the Middleweight division at the 1995 (?) Western
Canadas and, as already mentioned, the Light Heavweight title at the 1996
Canadas.
Manny Valenti
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These pictures are from the 1991
Gold's Classic novice qualifier in Victoria, BC, which was Manny's first
and only show and at which he swept away the competition to win the Middleweight
and Overall titles. Unfortunately it does not seem likely that Manny's
massive build will be seen on a competition stage again as his priorities
since this show with his family and a successful used-exotic-car business.
His physique made a big impression on BC's highly critical bodybuilding
audience, however, and he will be remembered around here for a long time
as one of the province's top novice prospects and genetic talents. The
relatively poor quality of these pictures is the result of my mistaken
use of a green filter (used to enhance skin tones in black-and-white) which
slowed down the shutter speed considerably and wasn't necessary for stage
lighting. The '91 Gold's was the first show I photographed and I've since
learned my lesson. These are some of the only usable pictures I got from
that show, but Manny's physique is so memorable that I had to include them,
as they serve to display his assets in spite of the poor resolution.
John Xuereb
John hasn't been competing for a
few years but I've got so many pictures of his impressive lines and classy
posing I had to include him here with his own section. John won the Heavyweight
divisions at the 1987 Victoria Gold's Classic and the 1987 British Columbia
Championships, long before I started taking contest pictures. Although
he only ever managed to place 2nd in the Heavyweights at any of thecompetitions
I've seen him in, John did deserve better recognition than he got - so
here it is. John now owns his own company, Bodies
in Motion, a Lifestyle Management and Fitness Consulting business based
in Abbotsford BC. John is currently very busy organizing an international
fitness and health trade show to be held February 21-22 at the Tradex Centre
in Abbotsford; interested potential exhibitors should click
here. (prononciation: John's name is Maltese, so the "x" is sort of
an "sh" but is more "open" and not as "closed" as in English).
Corky Fontana
Corky is a former resident of Duncan
- another small BC town with a big roster of notable competitor over the
years - and another of BC's many big (as in physically large) heavyweight
contenders.
Tim Nytchay
Link within
the BC & Western Canada section:
O'Toole
| Cavaleri | Nickles
| Wyatt | Fraser
| Weber | Psaila
| Gauthier | Torabi
| Eserve | Simpson
| Valenti | McEachern
| Wawryk | Xuereb
| Proksch | Murphy
| Evans | Harkness
| Brown | Gallo
| Fontana | Nytchay |
Desaulniers | Marquardt
| Unknown Mddlwt
Links to other pages:
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O'Toole | BC & Western Canada Index
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