"When I weighed in, I met (four-time Ms. Olympia and two-time Ms. International) Kim Chizevsky," she recalls. "She walked up to me and introduced herself and told me I looked good!"

For the comparatively diminutive (5'1") Cowan, the upbeat compliment was most welcome. The heavyweight roster boasted notable "Size Queens" such as Lora Ottenad, and familiar veterans such as Robin Parker, Michelle Ivers, and Rene O'Neill. "Leading up to the Nationals, I had been a little apprehensive. Looking around and seeing all the big girls, it was nice of her to make me feel good. She was encouraging," she recalls.

Bolstered by those words, Sylvia, a veteran of several Nationals and USA competitions, firmly planted her name on the bodybuilding map by placing right behind two much larger competitors, Heather Foster and the aforementioned Ottenad.

The strong placing might have placed Sylvia's name on the short list of competitors to watch, but it also served as validation for her own brand of self-determination. "For years, people have told me that I needed to come down to the middleweight class. 'Sylvia, you're too short to do anything in the heavyweight at the Nationals...' was something I'd hear."

But hard work, says Sylvia, creates its own confidence. "I felt I had done everything I should. I felt like I belonged on the stage. I didn't care how short I was!" declares the Brooklyn native and current resident. "Besides, Lee Priest is very short, too!"

Charting this course took a considerable amount of self-discipline that commenced just after the last camera bulb flashed at the 1999 Nationals, where she took 10th place after a 13th place showing the previous year. "From the second day that I got home until the Nationals, I went back to the gym," she states. "I didn't take those breaks that people take, and I didn't go off my diet and binge. I just focused on what I needed to do. But I was pleasantly surprised!" she says of the eventual outcome.

One of the things she did was change trainers "âÂ?¦to someone I thought would work with me and not say 'I'm in control,'" she says. Sylvia credits that trainer, Thomas Jacob of Steel Gym in New York City, with helping to stay focused on the work ahead, as well as keeping the newer judging standards in mind – standards which appear to reward a more graceful, athletic physique. "For years, my trainers tried to get me into the middleweights, but my body just wouldn't go. This year I just said 'You know what? I'm a heavyweight, and there's nothing I can do about that.' All I can do is just work with what I have and just present it the best way I can and simply go on that stage. I'll be the shortest one up there, but it'll be alright."

Ample cardiovascular work was a hallmark of her preparations for the show. "I did the cardio by getting back to my basic roots of running – I used to be a runner," she states. "So I ran more and closer to the show." As the show approached, walking took the place of doing laps. "I also did more stretching, and started practicing posing a little earlier."

The strong placing did not come without a price, however. A painful nerve pinch threatened to turn her plans for the 2000 Nationals into plans for the 2001 competition, instead. "I was working shoulders one night and was dieting. I forced myself to do more reps than I should have," she admits. The resulting injury ran down her back and right arm and into her right hand. "My trainer thought it might be a good time to back out," Sylvia says, due to both the sheer mass of some of her fellow competitors and her injury. But Ms. Cowan was resolute in her determination to compete on that platform in Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom. "I told him that all I needed to do is be strong and for him to be there and make sure I didn't do too much for the injured area."

As a result of that injury, Sylvia had to rely on another form of "muscle memory" to successfully compete that evening. "I had to go home and practice in front of the mirror, close my eyes and visualize. When I was onstage, I had no feeling at all in my right triceps! I had to mentally pose it..."

But if it takes a village to raise a child, Sylvia agrees that it can take a supportive gym to help ensure competitive success. She's quick to mention the unwavering reinforcement she received at both Steel Gym and Max Fitness, both located in Manhattan, as positive ingredients in her recipe for bodybuilding success. "People were always saying 'Wow! Go Sylvia!' I'd see a lot of women especially who'd be there in the morning when I'd do my cardio. They'd be there to do it with me and make sure I stayed motivated. So this (placing) is for all of us," Sylvia says proudly.

Sylvia gives the 2000 Nationals high marks as a production. "It was a very good show, very professionally done. I feel that the NPC is always very professional." The closest thing to a controversy engendered by the contest was the close finish between the two top heavyweight competitors, something that Sylvia feels could have gone either way, she says. "I can understand what happened," Sylvia says, referring to Lora Ottenad's* second place finish. "She took first place in the USA's that same year, so I think she came in expecting to win," she surmises. "But while I might not have done it that way, she must've felt she could have won it. You have to know your body. The regimen (required for that) is so hard. But you look at both of their bodies and they are both beautiful physiques."

NEW ERA?
Sylvia professes optimism regarding what seems to be the newest set of criteria in the field, best represented by the recent Heavyweight class victory of Ukrainian-born Valentina Chepiga at the 2000 Ms. Olympia, but also indicated by her own respectable Nationals placing.

"I think the judges and the industry are saying they want to keep female bodybuilding going and get the support around it. We need to make sure that female bodybuilders are something other women can aspire to. I think at one point we tried to take it to the extreme, the freakier you looked the better." Sylvia hopes that the new standards will usher in an era when athletes like Carla Dunlap and Rachel Maclish figured atop competitors' lists, and names them specifically as her inspiration in making that first trip to the gym years ago. "The reason I got into bodybuilding was that I saw those women."

That's not to say that Sylvia is preparing to migrate to the fitness class, at least not yet... "Female bodybuilding is all about muscle," Sylvia allows. "I've always like muscle on women and I think it's beautiful. But I knew I would never be able to take it to some of the levels (the larger girls) were taking it to," she states.

But while she feels that the new judging trends are serving as a shot in the arm for the sport, she's sympathetic about how easily even the best bodybuilders can misinterpret judging guidelines. Concerning the 2000 Ms. Olympia, for example, Sylvia admits admiration for the physique of runner-up Vicky Gates, but fully acknowledges Valentina Chepiga's well-earned victory. "You know I love Vicky Gates," she allows. "But I must say in all honesty that when I look at Valentina Chepiga� well, her physique is extraordinary. I think it's where bodybuilding for women should go. Although she had a lot of muscle, she had feminine lines and was so graceful. It wasn't all about being big. I think that Vicky Gates has the same potential, but maybe she misinterpreted what they meant. Everyone took 'tone it down' to mean different things... smooth out, trim down, so it's all how you interpret it."

Both as a competitor and as a trainer herself, Sylvia says that the new outlook is also having a positive recruitment effect. "Women tell me that I have the kind of physique they want to see up there," she says, confessing that moments like that delight her.

"Women come up to me on the street and they see me as something they can reach. Maybe they're looking at things differently. I can't tell you how many women a day come up to me outside the gym and want to know how it's done," she says.

Inside the gym, she focuses that good will and turns it outwards. "I got into bodybuilding not only for the health benefits and to look good, but to encourage women to use weights as well," she says. "I love to train people, seeing a woman who's overweight and taking her where she wants to be. One of my clients lost 24 pounds!"

SHOWTIME
Sylvia's pre-show routine is still a quiet one. "I don't walk around and I don't look around when it comes to the moments just before a show," she admits. Still, her communal support system is reinforced in the attitudes of other competitors. "There are people I see at the shows every year. I'm so happy I'm with them and I know that no matter what it's not my decision which of us is going to win," she says. "And prior to the show, at weigh-ins, I talk to everyone. I want to know everyone, because I feel that you need to share. Everyone has gone through the same junk I've been through, so at that point it's up to the judges and not us."

Backstage support is nearly always in evidence, she says. "The women help each other, talking, holding hands. I very seldom see people with attitude." A special encouragement through the years has been the kind words of Heather Foster, who claimed the top spot in the heavyweight class.

"Over the years I've been onstage with Heather, and she's told me little things like 'Sylvia, stay out there.'" That support came in most acutely at a point several years back. "People have been telling me for so many years that I didn't belong here." At one point, she admits that she almost started to believe them, until a kindly boost from Heather. "She took me aside and said 'Sylvia, with those legs of yours, what are you talking about? Work on it and you'll be all right,'" she recalls smiling.

LIFTING & LIFE
Off-stage, Sylvia keeps an equilibrium in her life that's borne of sheer momentum. Balancing her bodybuilding endeavors with a full-time career as a Educational Coordinator for a major health insurance carrier might seem to call for a juggling act, but it's one that she performs with apparent ease. "As long as you do it and don't sit down and ask how I'm doing this," she jokes. "But it's been like this for so many years, it comes fairly easy now." A self-confessed addict to the gym life, Sylvia says that scheduling a workout after a day of work is no sacrifice... "I might be tired and ready to pass out, but I get this surge of energy in the gym and I just love the way it feels."

Marching towards Atlanta in 2001, she hopes to keep ascending the rungs of the bodybuilding ladder with her fourth appearance at the Nationals. Each show is a learning experience, she says. "I keep working on it and talking to the judges. I really like the fact that they give you feedback," she states.

Calling for some self-improvements, she still sees a shortcoming or two looking back at her from the mirror. "I need more fullness," she says. "I need to work on it every day to build more muscle mass. I want to work on that at the same time as I maintain my symmetry."

More ab work will also get done, she promises, as well as spending some time working on keeping an audience entertained, much the way veteran Diana Dennis used to. "I really want to work on nailing my routine," she says, mindful of the "fannies in the seats" necessity of any performance venue. "Because I feel personally that when people pay $100 a ticket, they're entitled to see you perform. And if you're not comfortable on stage, you're not giving it to them."

Passion for the sport- both as a competitor and a proselytizer of bodybuilding's benefits -remain at the forefront for her, constituting nothing less than a romance with the lifestyle.

"I love bodybuilding, it's the biggest high," she relates. "There are times when people say 'sit down and be satisfied.' But I'm saying... 'biceps tonight!'"

With that attitude already paying dividends, Sylvia pledges to keep moving forward regardless of the turns of the tide. "I've always said that regardless of what people say, I'll keep going. Because one day, they will say that this girl looks okay..."