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SPORTS & LEISURE Maciejko muscling in on bodybuilding crowd By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer When someone suggested a couple of years ago that Voytek Maciejko should enter a bodybuilding competition, little did the Ballinafad resident know that it would lead him down a whole new career path. The 41-year-old car salesman walked into the meet in London as a complete unknown in the Ontario bodybuilding circuit and surprised many on hand by winning the light heavyweight division and finishing second in the Masters (40-50 yrs.) class. Maciejko's performance caught the attention of Kevin Fletcher, operator of Mississauga-based BodyTech Fitness, who was amazed at the Poland native's body type, with a small waist and ideal bone structure for bodybuilding. "I've been training off and on all my life but before it was just a stressreleasing thing, just to have some fun and see how much you can lift," said the married father of two. "I said I would do the show and even if I came in last place, so I'll have some memories and a few pictures to tell my grandchildren that I'd done something interesting with my life. I had to try it for myself. I did some reading and some research and some experimenting with workouts and it got to the point where I started looking good. My friend told me I should try to enter a real show and after I won it, from that moment I think (Fletcher) realized I'm a serious guy about this." Following the London show, Maciejko underwent a 12-week training regimen under Fletcher's guidance in which he revamped his eating habits and actually spent a lot less time in the gym. "Before I was training for like three hours at a time and my diet was all over the place," he added. "Then (Fletcher) showed me what I have to do and it was one-third of what I was doing before. I thought it was a joke because how could you get results by doing it this way? The system is so easy to apply to your life and there really isn't dramatic changes involved, just follow a few steps. If I can do it at my age with a regular day job with a wife and kids, anyone can do it." And while Maciejko has qualified for many provincial and national championships since joining BodyTech as a certified trainer, he only enters one or two competitions a year. The reward for winning the Masters division at another show in London this past November was a box of egg whites, but he says the time commitment required to prepare for each show is what keeps him from competing more often. "It's not just a show. It's a completely different thing than I'm used to with lifting weights and you need to have knowledge about how to do it successfully. The choreography, choosing the right music and the posing is so important," said Maciejko, who came to Canada from Poland in 1989 with $150 and no grasp of the English language. "A lot of people ask me if I feel nervous when you walk on the stage in front of all those people, but really I found it easy to me. I felt at home. I was so relaxed I was just having fun. When I went back again the last time it was the same thing. You might have (the body) for it, but you need to know how to show it, and still want to put in the work it takes to win it." His main focus is now on opening a studio out of his home this summer and his clientele likely won't strictly be the bodybuilding type. As the subject of an upcoming profile on OMNI TV, Maciejko wants to spread the word about the training methods that have dramatically changed his lifestyle. "Ninety-six per cent of the (fitness) business is made up of just regular people," he said. "It's not just about bodybuilding. We're doing this for people who want to lose 15 to 20 pounds in a couple of months, but everybody's different. They might be looking for a healthier lifestyle." 15 Independent & Free Press, Thursday, March 24, 2011 Halton Hills resident Voytek Maciejko was introduced to bodybuilding a couple of years ago and has since transformed his lifestyle, winning a recent competition in London, Ont. Submitted photo Pond hockey tourney a `blast' at -35C Halton Hills resident Kevin Ward recently captained a team for the fifth time at the World Pond Hockey Championship in Plaster Rock, N.B. The locally based Southwire Canada squad was one of 120 teams in the men's open division coming from as far away as Singapore to compete in the 10th-annual event. Southwire went 0-5 in the tournament, including the pictured contest against a team from Nova Scotia. Ward said that despite getting frostbite in a couple of his toes thanks to temperatures that dipped to -35C, plans are already in place to return next year. "We didn't win a game, but we were there for the fun and the people you meet, it was just a blast." 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