Spain's La Manga Club will write a new chapter in its constantly evolving success story later this year when the five-star sports and lifestyle destination resort stages the 2015 Western European Powerlifting Championship for the first time in its prestigious history.

The event will see a group of the continent's best male and female powerlifters head to the multi-award-winning venue in Murcia, south-east Spain, from September 11-13 to compete for European glory in the growing sport's three main disciplines – the squat, the bench press and the deadlift.

Around 100 athletes aged 14 and upwards from up to 12 different countries are set to take part in three days of fierce competition across a range of different age groups and bodyweight categories as La Manga Club celebrates the start of a new exciting sporting era.

The event is the first to be hosted by the luxury resort after signing long-term deals with the European Powerlifting Federation (EPF) and International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) to stage all their major competitions and tournaments until 2018.

Under the terms of the agreement, as well as hosting all major championships, the EPF and IPF will establish a high performance powerlifting centre and have use of the extensive facilities at La Manga Club's five-star spa for its athletes to improve their skills and physiques.

In addition, Spa La Manga Club and La Manga Club's new High Performance Sports Centre will also be used to host other powerlifting events including clinics, workshops and training camps, while the centres will also provide the base for the IPF's coach education programme.

Widely regarded as Spain's flagship resort, La Manga Club has been Europe's leading sports and leisure destination since its inception in 1972 and continues to set the pace across the continent.

Three times the size of Monaco, the luxury complex boasts unrivalled facilities as a sports and leisure destination and has played host to some of the world's top sports stars for more than four decades including David Beckham, Andy Murray, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Severiano Ballesteros and footballing giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.

As well as including three 18-hole championship golf courses, the resort features a 28-court tennis centre and a 2,000sqm spa and fitness centre. It also offers the choice of a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and townhouses and more than 20 bars and restaurants.

La Manga Club is the overseas training base of the Lawn Tennis Association and official resort partner of Tennis Europe, while it has enhanced its facilities since last autumn with the opening of a new Leadbetter Golf Academy – the only one in mainland Spain – a new High Performance Sports Centre and a new High Performance Football Centre, offering aspiring athletes from all over the world the chance to fulfil their dreams of a professional career.

For more information about the 2015 Western European Powerlifting Championship, go to http://www.europowerlifting.org/

For further details about La Manga Club, please visit www.lamangaclub.com.

ENDS

Information for journalists

Press release written and distributed on behalf of La Manga Club by the Azalea Group.

La Manga Club
La Manga Club – www.lamangaclub.com – is an unrivalled sports and leisure paradise which sits between the low hills that separate the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor Sea, just 20 minutes from Murcia airport and an hour from Alicante.

Set out over an area of some 560 hectares (approx. 1,400 acres), it enjoys a mild year-round Mediterranean climate and offers visitors a prestigious five-star hotel, luxury vacation apartments and extensive sports facilities, including three championship golf courses, a new Leadbetter Golf Academy – the only one in mainland Spain – a 28-court tennis centre and eight grass sports pitches. The resort is also home to innumerable leisure facilities, such as the 2,000m2 Spa La Manga Club with its 13 luxurious treatment rooms, comprehensive fitness centre and 25m indoor swimming pool; meeting, banqueting and incentive facilities, and more than 20 restaurants and bars.

As well as hosting both Davis and Fed Cup tennis matches, La Manga Club has signed a long-term deal to be the overseas training resort of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) until 2016. It has also staged the Spanish Open golf championship and regularly attracts professional and international football teams to the first-class year-round training facilities which are also used by rugby and cricket sides.

As a result of more than 40 years of continued investment, innovation and commitment to excellence, La Manga Club is widely recognised as Spain's flagship resort and as one of the finest sports and lifestyle destinations in the world. Evidence of this is provided by its numerous awards and accolades.

La Manga Club was the proud recipient of a 2013 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel website, for the facilities and service on offer at its five-star Hotel Principe Felipe. The resort has been voted 'Best Golf Hotel/Resort in Spain' by UK readers of Today's Golfer magazine for the last four years and was named 'Best Golf Hotel in Spain' at the 2014 World Golf Awards. La Manga Club has long been a staunch supporter of women's golf, being the official overseas resort partner of the English Women's Golf Association for three years as well as hosting the Ladies European Tour (LET) Qualifying School from 2009-12. La Manga Club is also the venue for the Ladies Murcia Open, an LET Access Series event, and regularly hosts top women's amateur events and teams.

• High-resolution images of La Manga Club may be downloaded for editorial purposes from http://goo.gl/uOtE2Y

For more information on La Manga Club contact Pete Simm on 01730 711920 or email petes@theazaleagroup.com