JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?i|4=i+7zRX*d8㌱[șmGQ[{\^g;<9r$ 42m:GciQS.l:CL49gjŮC<f4 `|ċZ}}jtL9KZ7b ZEdcqCSb^»>8Ɣ.vtWrkZ&BF=뷗\B^?YT]KhaKG'8>P^kkW^ 䞟rصEHtnƤ-Sr:JT9J\͕*N~f5CǟNj=M^CfVor`JgF`E>97\)֮5{UM1. F1.dFsY23vH[V}5Fr̃8=siֺ].茑MWp{v lﴻ.7\|ҺKK֍>m{,=vHS?BE43ə3Ğ+5Й+nf8贞 ?:u"esZTdtovoM6ckߴ=*~?NVhCKu: äA6Z\iHc0ͮdt[Cmeq+*EfrG' V]wzM. mfظV11(-ӧ<T/%[?(u.#zn +q& cˊl QIkەCCl2>Hn[Ԣ :KgUdM˷)3 ҹٵȏɎTz %bW$RҒOrkaW?v5 5`ιwէDWi06rN] Zn\ZA'jK+$g ^vƮHV ɬ}(SM?JOhycS  N} XOE<br>Although Schmitz had lifted weights since his teen years, his major focus in high school and co1^ ^7^\nk= oiZěya֡d]b_24/AJ_Gb$*ť O,pMi_~&VJ2JFB xKK[HTˏfi9X=h*>U"][4y5'7^pOS 9;hǫobՁ;OZZ_*ܖfT6),HRs~26v͐99Hl8ڱ #9Ak3Lx1s<\P=9$mQv F2 C 6ʠ#MCO,e1Ρ!))!,WxfO [j(mͅi(n:\kVk9u: N"Kѝ5R\Of$ Oj.RKx;0P}*ڹ ٞEcI,Ǚ(JQteÂlWB,]1#@ӠQ8'ɸ090<~=0´"J5=G5qE|D",@ ? (ZCWs\'>.b29RI5+{EkV$)CѴ}?DYDF=8q9ancisco State College, Schmitz played on the defensive line and earned MVP honors for his team. But at 5 10 and 200 pounds he didn t have the size to play in the NFL, so when his final season ended on the college gridiron he decided to change his athletic focus to Olympic-style weightlifting.<br>After receiving his degree in physical education in 1968, Schmitz became a co-owner of Alex s Sports Palace Gym in San Francisco on Mission Street. The gym was a hardcore, free weight facility, or as Schmitz says,  The Sports Palace was a triceps and biceps, squat and bench, snatch and clean-and-jerk type of gym. It had two lifting platforms, but when Schmitz came on board there was only one member who practiced competitive weightlifting, Walt Gioseffi. Gioseffi and Schmitz became good friends, and Gioseffi helped Schmitz learn many of the finer points of the classical lifts: the Olympic press (which was dropped from lifting competition after the 1972 Olympics), the snatch and the clean and jerk. Schmitz eventually reached a level where he could Olympic press 281, snatch 275 and clean and jerk 347 at a bodyweight of 200 pounds.<br>As Schmitz s t