CrossFit level top notch in Cayman
From Caribbean Sports Network
The Cayman Islands may be small, but it does boast some exceptionally fit athletes.
For proof, look no farther than the fact that the CrossFit 7 Mile team is immersed in serious training geared toward defending its Latin American regional crown, which it won last year. Needless to say, the outfit has hopes of qualifying for the world championships again, including a repeat performance of topping its closest rivals, Cayman CrossFit, which also happens to be from the tiny Caribbean territory.
CrossFit training involves highly intensive and monitored gym workouts that produce rapid improvements in strength and cardiovascular fitness. It has become so popular worldwide that CrossFit team and individual competitions are the obvious by-product, including attracting large television audiences.
“We are working hard to defend our regional title,” said Wanda Brenton, a team member. She started CrossFit 7 Mile with her husband, Carl, two years ago.
“The Latin American region will be held between 7 and 9 June in Guayaquil, Ecuador,” she added.
There are two stages to go through to make it to the CrossFit Games World Championships.
First is the “Open”, which anyone can sign up for from their own CrossFit gym. For five weeks, a workout is announced and after each workout the team is given a ranking in its region based on the results.
The top 48 men and women and the top 30 teams are then eligible to go to regional competition.
Only one man, one woman and one team is eligible to go to the world championships from the Latin American region, which will be held in Los Angeles between 26 and 28 July.
Last year’s CrossFit 7 Mile team was Schmarrah McCarthy, Jennifer Chailler, Zak Kepner, Trevor Amodeo, Chris Spigner (the gym’s head trainer) and Wanda Brenton.
They have one new member, Martin van Zyl, who replaces Kepner, who moved to California.
“We are hoping to send three teams from CrossFit 7 Mile this year to the regionals and those other two teams are being decided,” Brenton said. “I’m not sure what the competition will be like this year. Our stiffest competition last year was Cayman CrossFit. I know three of their teammates moved away, so I’m not sure what the future holds for them.
“As for getting better in order to win, I know we are stronger this year than last time,” she added. “But we’ll have to see what the workouts are this year before we get too excited about our chances. We’ve worked hard, really hard, so I’m sure whatever comes up we will be ready for it. But only time will tell.”
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