On Saturday 25 June, Year 12 student, Samantha Hansen (who prefers to be called Sam) entered into her first ever weightlifting competition.

While confident in her preparation and ability, this was another new experience in her fitness journey and something she never imagined she would be doing 18 months ago.

“CrossFit is a sport that anyone can participate in at any level. You start by competing against yourself and each day there is something new to challenge you.”

Where did it all begin?

At the start of 2014, Sam decided she would start participating in the after school Fitness Club sessions. She had always liked being fit and active and was really enjoying the CrossFit style exercises that Mr. Nation had introduced via the Fitness Club and Physical Education classes. After a few months, Sam was enjoying the CrossFit activities so much that she decided to look into what she could do to take it on as a sport. Fast forward to April of 2015 and Sam was fully integrated into her chosen sport, entering competitions with the support and backing of her new “box” (that’s the CrossFit word for gym), CrossFit MANA.

Competitions

Throughout the rest of 2015, Sam entered into the BoxFit Champs, the CrossFit Rising Stars competition and the Teen Gauntlet events. As she progressed through each competition, Sam’s confidence, performance and desire to do well also increased. In 2016 she entered the Judgement Day and BoxFit Champs events but it was the CrossFit Open where she finally established herself as contender...

As the title suggests, the CrossFit Open is an open entry competition where athletes from around the world compete in different grades; Sam’s grade is the 16-17 year old teenage girls. The competition took place over five weeks, with entrants required to complete one WOD (Workout Of the Day) each week under strict competition conditions that are consistent throughout the world. Sam’s judging took place at CrossFit MANA, with the judges posting her scores online at the end of each WOD. After an intense five weeks and waiting for scores to come in for the 1,900 competitors registered worldwide, Sam was delighted to finish in 3rd place for the Australasian region (comprising of New Zealand, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Islands) as well as an equally impressive 39th place for the entire world! (Remember, that’s out of 1,900 entrants.)

What keeps her going?

As you can imagine, Sam’s training regime is pretty intense. She normally trains 2 to 3 times per day, 5 days a week (Monday to Friday). The weekends are spent doing mobility exercises (stretching and recovery), as well as running. As much as she loves the sport, Sam feels incredibly fortunate to have the support and encouragement of her family and friends, particularly those who attend the Fitness Club.

While her training is an individualised programme, she is still able to workout in the same environment as others and that helps to keep her motivated. It goes without saying that none of this would be possible without Mr. Nation, who continues to give up his own time for those interested in CrossFit and MultiSport events, or simply fitness in general.

More recently, extra support has come through in the form of a sponsorship with Sandy Carter Photography. This is a huge deal and provides Sam with both validation and inspiration to keep progressing and performing well in her CrossFit events.

Where to from here? 

Sam has no time to rest! In 2015, Sam finished in 13th place in a Teen Gauntlet preliminary event. In April of this year, she competed in the same event but blitzed the field and finished in 1st place, an impressive improvement over 12 months. Her placings in these preliminary events have enabled her to qualify for the Teen Gauntlet Gathering competition, which is being hosted in New Zealand for the first time since it began. While a little bit disappointed she will not get to travel to the US for this competition, Sam has her eyes set on maintaining her #1 world ranking to ensure she is able to compete in the 2017 Gathering, which will be back in the US just before the World CrossFit Games.

While all of this is going on, other events are also on the calendar, which included this past weekend’s weightlifting competition, as well as the Granite Games: a four-week competition over June and July where the top 15 teens from around the world will qualify for a competition in Minnesota, USA this September.

Looking further into the future, Sam has her eyes set on gaining her Level 1 CrossFit Trainers' Certificate, hopefully in 2017. This will allow her to start formally coaching other budding CrossFit athletes. 2017 will also see Sam shift into the Women's Division once she turns 18, so she will be training hard to prepare for the CrossFit Open in this larger, more competitive division (where there are hundreds of thousands of competitors as opposed to a couple of thousand). Her long term goal is to one day qualify for and compete in the World CrossFit Games, the “Holy Grail” for all CrossFit athletes.

We also want to acknowledge the support of the Manawatu College Fitness Club and Crossfit MANA for their roles in Sam’s CrossFit development and success; and our heartfelt thanks to Sandy Carter Photography for allowing us to use her photos in this story. All three of these contributors can be found on Facebook so please go and give them a ‘Like’.

If you would like to join Sam on her journey, you can follow her on:

• Instagram: Sammy_crossfit
  
• Facebook: Sam’s Crossfit Journey