One of Canada's strongest teens is gearing up to represent Canada at the World Powerlifting Championship in Malta following an explosive start to his competitive career that saw him break a number of provincial and national lifting records.

On Aug. 28, Saanich's Tate Commandeur, 17, will travel to the Mediterranean for sub-junior competition, where he will compete in the 120-kilogram weight class.

"It's such a cool experience, like I get to represent my country on the world stage," said Commandeur. "But I'm also nervous. It's a lot of pressure."

He started competitively lifting in 2022 after gaining an interest through working out at school, and after taking a year off, he officially hired a coach in November ahead of the competition where he managed to break every provincial lifting record for the 105-kilogram weight class.

In March, he went to the Western Championships where he broke a number of national records, including the bench-press record for the 105-kilogram weight class.

Ahead of the world championships, Commandeur, who trains at Victoria Barbel in Colwood, has set five Canadian records and nine B.C. records, and he sits at fourth in the world for sub-juniors in his weight class.

This year he started competing in the 120-kilogram weight class where he hopes to set more national records, eventually taking every record in two weight classes.

"It was just a conversation with my coach. The records were actually lower in the weight class above, which doesn't really make sense. I was hovering around 104 to 105 [kilograms] so I just chugged some water, weighed in at 106 [kilograms], competed in the 120 category, grabbed a couple records, and I'm sure I'll get more records in nationals, put more notches on my belt," Commandeur said.

After worlds, he will be in P.E.I. for the Canadian Powerlifting Championships.