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Personal trainer and health-club director Phillip Patrick Battle had planned to attend a powerlifting meet last weekend.
But in typical giving Phil-fashion, he had demurred so one of his part-time staffers could go on vacation, said his training partner, Gary Emrich of Mechanicsville. He was driving to work last Sunday morning when his car ran off Chamberlayne Road in Mechanicsville and he was fatally injured. The wreck is under investigation. The 30-year-old Mechanicsville resident had been a personal trainer and health club director at The Jefferson Hotel for eight years. He also was a fitness instructor at the Chickahominy YMCA. The Richmond native started lifting small weights at home during the eighth grade to get in shape for football.
"It became the number one thing he did," said his sister, Kimberly D. Battle of Washington.
Mr. Battle became a member of Mike's Olympic Gym in Mechanicsville, where he worked out to improve his performance as nose guard for the Atlee High School Raiders. He launched an impressive lifting career in 1994 by winning the American Powerlifting Federation Teen-age Nationals in the 195-pound class in Nashville, Tenn. He was more than 100 pounds behind the leader when he lifted 550 pounds for the first time in his life to win. After graduating from Atlee and becoming an Eagle Scout in 1994, he earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Bluefield College in 1999. "His practicum was to work with the Bluefield High School football team as strength and conditioning coach. He also worked with the Bluefield County Recreation Center to develop programs and improve equipment," his sister said.
At 21, the 263-pound, thickly built lifter won the National Junior Olympics in Boston in the 275-pound weight class. In doing so, he recorded an American record of 644 pounds in the squat, to go with 540 in the dead lift and 418 in the bench press. A long string of national titles followed in various lifting organizations. As he got older, he had moved more into organizing lifting events, his sister said. At his death, he was vice chairman of U.S.A. Powerlifting and was organizing its Richmond Open meet scheduled for April 5.
"He helped organize and run the lifting events for the Virginia Special Olympics' two meets at the University of Richmond and in Suffolk each year," Emrich said. "He ran a bench press competition at the Chickahominy YMCA to raise money for needy children who didn't have the money to go to summer camp. "He was always helping people start and promote organizations to help charitable causes. Phillip always hadthe contacts and was a very good promoter. He was the nicest person you would ever meet. He'd give you the shirt off his back."
In addition to his sister, survivors include his parents, Phillip E. and Myrtle Taylor Battle of Mechanicsville.
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