Central West CrossFitters step up to international challenge

Four Central West residents have recently returned from Queensland where they competed in an international CrossFit event, Oceania region. Forbes' Taylah Hemming, Parkes' Aimee Schmidt and Orange's Lachlan Harris and Alan Mann competed in the Outside Pro Division of the CrossFit semi-finals as part of the Torian Pro. The team placed fifth out of a total of 50 teams. Taylah Hemming said to get to this competition they had to undertake five workouts and submit their scores as a team, with the top 50 teams across Oceania being eligible for Pro-team division. Taylah said while all of their team had a different story for taking part in the competition, they all started out doing CrossFit as a way of exercising and then tapped into the competitive aspect of the sport. The Torian Pro consisted of five events spread across three days from May 24 to May 26, with the team members' scores going to a cumulative total. "For all four of us it's {training] different, it's when you can fit it in, but you're training for two hours a day generally," she said. CrossFit includes weightlifting, gymnastics and cardiovascular exercises. Taylah said they are likely going to compete again at next year's Torian Pro, but they are currently in what can be described as their off season for competitions. The competitive side of CrossFit has been described as a relatively small community with CrossFitters meeting others at small comps and going from there. With the Torian Pro, Taylah said there are two main divisions: the Inside Elite Division and the Outside Pro Division, with teams having to come from the same gym to compete in the Inside Elite Division. Taylah said it is a bit of a geographic restriction for their team, but admits they could be quite competitive in the Inside Elite Division if they were able to compete in it. While Orange has had a gym focussing quite heavily on CrossFit for quite some time, CrossFit style gyms have only been in Forbes and Parkes for a couple of years. Taylah said if people were interested in getting involved in CrossFit, they can contact Black Ridge Fitness Forbes.