Welcome to the first edition of what will be a semi regular feature on our site – Athlete Spotlight.
Athlete Spotlight is a chance to highlight Coastal CrossFit athletes who have demonstrated admirable character traits – they may have been picked for their athletic prowess, their great attitude or teamwork or someone who has made an inspiring lifestyle change through CrossFit. We hope you enjoy this new feature!
The first athlete in the Athlete Spotlight is Meg Shroff. Meg’s might seem like an obvious choice due to her rapid and continual athletic improvement, but it is her outstanding level of maturity and dedication to training that made her our first pick for this feature.
It is easy to forget that Meg is still in high school and that she drives herself to training as often as she can, all while juggling her final year’s studies, maintaining a part time job and no doubt the social duties that go along with being in year 12. While most people her age would be more concerned with social aspects of training at a gym. Meg often turns up to one of our quietest sessions of the day and consistently attacks the workout with great effort and an outstanding attitude. We have been immensely impressed by Meg in the short time we have known her and look forward to seeing her continue to progress in CrossFit and life. We hope you enjoy getting to know Meg.
Your progress in CrossFit has been very impressive, What was your athletic/exercise background before starting CrossFit?
Before I started CrossFit I had done gymnastics my whole life, since I was 4 years old. I did artistic gymnastics up until I was 11 years old and then I move over to Australia from NZ and started up aerobics gymnastics. Which competed internationally, up until last year.
When did you start training with Coastal CrossFit?
I started up CrossFit October 2013
What would you consider your strengths in CrossFit?
Gymnastics moves such as t2b, pull ups, box jumps.
What would you consider to be your weaknesses?
Weightlifting moves. I know I can’t lift as heavy as some of the other girls but that is what motivates me to keep going and just try my best. (Note that at last check Meg weighed less than 50kg – so while she may consider her weightlifting to be a weakness, pound for pound she does extremely well).
What goals have you set for the future? eg. competitions, the open, other sporting events etc.
My goals are to just keep improving in all areas of CrossFit and to try to go to more comps this year.
What advice would you give to someone who is starting out in CrossFit?
To just give it a go and it isn’t as scary as it looks. They aren’t going to make you lift weights that you aren’t physically capable of and if there are moves that you are not strong enough to perform you can just scale them down. Its a great environment to workout in as everyone is just one big family there. You aren’t only just going to get a great body but you are always giving yourself a healthy body.
What made you start at Coastal CrossFit and what were you hoping to achieve – have you achieved it?
Friends that I use to do aerobics gymnastics they started CrossFit and because I quit that I need something else to do to keep fit, so I thought why not try and see how I go. The only thing going into CrossFit that I wanted to achieve was to stay fit and healthy, which I have. But I have also gained a lot of strength, which is great to see.
What lifestyle changes have you taken on since starting with Coastal CrossFit? eg. nutrition
I haven’t had much lifestyle change as before I started CrossFit as I was training many hours a week for aerobics. I still try and eat as healthy as possible.
