Bodybuilding: Mr Regatta 2014 - Maiden win for Rodney Henriette |25 September 2014

. Rudy Michel Mr Regatta junior

Rodney Henriette’s year of hard work finally paid off on Tuesday night when he was crowned Mr Regatta 2014 inside the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS).

The Mr Regatta competition this year was for the first time held alongside the Miss Regatta beauty pageant where two judges’ panels were present, each to deliberate on the respective events.

Roxy Athanase, Golbert Nourrice, Robert Rose and Marcel Ally were the judges for the Mr Regatta competition and their job was to pick out a winner among the nine contestants. In fact, their job was made easy by the fact that Henriette seemed a class above the rest.

Of the nine athletes, two of them – Rudy Michel and Alain Barallon – were competing for the junior title, which was in the end awarded to Michel who even made it to the final six along with the seniors.

“I am very excited as I promised myself to improve and I think all my hard work paid off today as I have managed to win this title,” said Rudy Michel.

“To be in the final standing up there with the senior bodybuilders is a great motivation for me and I hope to one day be able to follow in the footsteps of the greats like Ziad (Mekdachi) and Joelen (Valentin) to be a successful bodybuilder,” added the 20-year-old.

Michel won a cup and a medal sponsored by Round Table Seychelles, a certificate, supplements from Nature Plus Health Shop and R5,000 sponsored by Spendless.

In the senior category, Henriette’s competitors included Joe Gabriel, Joelen Valentin, Andy Anthony, Antoine Rachel, Rajan Rose and Eric Kalle. Defending champion Ziad Meckdachi was not present to defend his title.

After Valentin and Gabriel were announced as the third and second place finishers respectively, the large crowed inside the venue already knew who the winner would be as they all called for Henriette as the master of ceremony was about to announce the winner.

“I have been practicing bodybuilding for eight years and to finally win a title today is a very big achievement for me and it has proved that determination and perseverance pay off in sports,” said Henriette after the competition.

With the athletes’ attention now turning towards the forthcoming Mr Seychelles contest, Henriette has promised he will be even more ripped come the biggest bodybuilding event on the calendar as the Mr Regatta contest was just another step in his preparations for the biggest crown.

“There is nothing impossible in life and I will be doing my best to try and wrestle the Mr Seychelles title from Ziad who is an athlete I respect a lot and shall I not manage to win it, then it means I will have to keep working harder,” said the 41-year-old about the prospect of competing for the Mr Seychelles title.

Henriette won a cup and medal sponsored by Round Table Seychelles, a certificate, supplements courtesy of Nature Plus Health Shop, six months free membership at X-trim Gym and a cash prize of R10,000 from Spendless.

The contest was held in quite high spirits, with the master of ceremony and spectators producing a good atmosphere, although much of the event was focused towards the Miss Regatta pageant rather than portraying both events as equally important as was promised when it was announced.

All bodybuilders were rewarded with a medal from Seychelles Bodybuilding Federation (SBBF) chairman Regis Delorie.

S.N.