Nicole Simien - First Time's a Charm for Female Bodybuilder

Nicole Simien

Dental hygeniest's winning smile, killer guns take first place at the Annual Far East Bodybuilding Competition.

August 8, 2008

Camp Foster, Okinawa

Nicole Simien prepared to step on stage, trying to remain confident as a rush of nervousness hit her during the 13th Annual Far East Bodybuilding Competition Sunday at the Camp Foster theater.

"Once the nervousness wore off, I just let it go," she said. "I kept telling myself that it was time to show off all my hard work."

For Simien, who was the overall female winner, this was her first competition and she trained extensively for it.

"I trained for a year and nine months for this competition," she said. "I was in the gym three times a day and my diet consisted of no sugar at all."

She said the first thing she ate after the event was a banana and a chocolate-covered almond bar.

"I saw a lot of the competitors eating bananas before the show, but I decided to save mine until after the show," the 29-year-old said.

Simien said it took a lot of self-discipline to keep to her training schedule.

"You have to learn to push your body to limits it has never reached before," she said. "You learn your inner strengths, because your body can take it if you can push yourself to do it."

The winners received trophies along with other various incentives, but Simien said it was not about the prizes.

"It was more of a personal goal for myself," she said. "I have been challenged mentally while in college, but I was looking for the physical challenge with this competition."

Simien, a full-time dental hygienist, said she has been in gymnastics her whole life, but also enjoys weight training and running.

"My next vision is to start training other people to achieve their fitness goals," she said.

Simien credits a lot of her success to the support she had from her friends and family,

She said her husband Jason Simien and her good friend Angie Garcia helped calm her nerves before the competition.

Simien said she doesn't know if she will participate in another competition anytime soon, because she wants to spend more time with her husband and dog.

"The training takes a lot out of you," she said. "But when it was over with, I looked at it as just another goal accomplished."

The event consisted of a total of 40 men and women from all over the Pacific.

Eric Isley, the sports coordinator at Gunners Fitness Center on Foster said the event was open to anybody who could get on base and sign-up.

He also said the contestants were judged on symmetry and definition of their bodies.

Other results in the competition were Tomoya Nakadomari who won the best overall male. Winners in the women's divisions were Adaniya Kaoru for the lightweight, Nicole Freres won the middleweight. Simiens also won the heavyweight division.

For the mens the bantamweight and lightweight winners were Leo Yozaki and Naoto Oodonchi respectively. The light middle weight and middleweight winners were Tomoya Nakadomari and Jumpei Akagi. The light heavyweight and heavyweight winners were Kenneth Walker and Roosevelt Moody.

Source:  Okinawa Marines