The Man behind the camera-
This edition of Athlete Spotlight we meet Grant Williams- the personality behind the camera. He has become our official photographer for Coastal CrossFit and love or hate it he has captured the best and worst sides of us all with many of our worst moments being highlighted through the Faces of the Open. Grant is a long term member at Coastal but this year his commitment to consistency and technique improvement has seen Grant come along in leaps in bounds in all areas of fitness in this past year. It has been great witnessing his achievements and we look forward to sharing in your successes. We hope you enjoy getting to know Grant….
Can you give us a bit of background about yourself, where you grew up, profession, previous training, hobbies, etc?
I’m a born and bred Sunshine Coaster, growing up around Bli Bli before moving towards the beach as soon as I could get my own place. I’ve also lived in Cambridge, UK whilst working as a paramedic over there many years ago. I’ve been a paramedic in Queensland for over 22 years and never really did much besides that apart from a couple of retail jobs which convinced me to get into something where helping people was your primary aim of going to work each day. Just making someone else rich wasn’t sufficient motivation to get me out of bed each day and being a paramedic is still the best career I could have taken on. There’s no better way to spend your days than helping those who really need help. Along the way I’ve been lucky enough to take on a number of roles within the ambulance service including Critical Care Paramedic, Flight Paramedic, Educator and currently Officer-in-Charge. I’m also part owner of a company that retrieves sick people from all over the world back to Australia for travel insurance companies. As if my calendar wasn’t full enough I’m also half way through a Masters in Business Administration at USC. I’m a late starter as far as fitness is concerned. I tried various gyms over the years but I never really had a plan or knew enough to make the most of it. Every time I would stop going after the initial few weeks.
My hobbies include photography (I only started that after I started CrossFit) and I’m pretty big on travel. We go overseas as often as possible, usually to Europe because there’s so much to see.
Can you tell us how you heard about CrossFit and what made you start and has kept you with us at Coastal CrossFit?
Good friends of ours Rob and Kimberly introduced us to Coastal Crossfit after a conversation at a friend’s house one day. Danielle and I decided to try it and after getting the details from Kimberly we got onto Chris and Marie and came in to try it out. I remember meeting some people in those first few sessions who are good friends of ours today. I had zero interest in weightlifting when I started but now I love it. There are a few things that are different about CrossFit that have kept my interest.
Firstly you get to know the people you train with and through shared experiences such as challenging WODs you develop a close bond. Secondly the personal attention from Chris and Marie with technique development, continual encouragement and sharing in my small wins. Thirdly I don’t need to think about what I’m going to do each day at the gym – that’s all sorted before I get there. I just need to show up and give it my best every time. Sharing in the achievements of everyone is pretty important no matter how big or small. First pull-up? – let’s celebrate that because most people are at home on the couch. Linked two double-unders? – that’s awesome because most people in society are too scared to try. The support of fellow athlete’s really sets CrossFit apart from most other gyms.
Although you have CrossFitted with us since Dec 2014, it wasn’t until this year that you really found your groove for consistency- was there anything that spurred this change and what have been the effects?
As much as I understood that consistency was important to make any real gains in my fitness, I struggled to prioritise getting to the gym due to work commitments and no real desire to be competitive. My reason for fitness is not about beating the next guy, it’s always been just about being active and putting in the best effort I could on the day. The real change for me came at the start of 2018 when I just made the decision to prioritise my fitness over my employer’s wants, knowing that the Open was approaching and there were a few things I wanted to be able to do. During the 2018 Open I surprised myself with my first kipping pull-ups, first toes-to-bar and Rx performances in 4 out of 5 weeks. That finally convinced me that I was able to do the things that I’d been scaling for so long. I also made a commitment to myself that if I was on the Coast and the gym was open then I would be there at one of the sessions that day. Just making that decision meant that I missed only a handful of days in the first six months of 2018. There’ll always be times due to illness, injury or family commitments where we find it hard to get along but it’s definitely easier to keep coming to the box if you just keep coming to the box every day. Improvements I saw included the T2B and kipping pull-ups, double-unders and PBs on most lifts. I remember early this year on a run and box jump WOD where Chris G yelled at a group of us, “If you lot stopped p*ssing around on the run you’d get a better time!” – that motivated me to push harder from that point forward. I often reflect on that day to push that little bit harder when the going gets tough.
You are known for your photography skills within the box and somehow captured the emotion and atmosphere of what is going on (Open WODs, Hursty and much more). There have been so many moments both good and bad that you have witness and recorded. What is your favourite photo and why?
There are so many photos I’ve taken that I absolutely love for different reasons. As much as I like the ones where I set up a shot and then just wait for the perfect moment with lighting or movement within the frame, the ones that I remember are usually the ones that have caught the raw emotion or effort during a WOD. Oftentimes it’ll just be a close-up of someone who’s working hard and there’ll be beads of sweat rolling down their face or when someone just lifted a PB and they are super excited. I have really explored black and white lately because it removes all the distractions and makes you focus on the person. One of the first shots I took was of Steph Kunde in between two lifts where she was just laughing because she did something funny during a lift – that’s one of my early favourites. One this year was of Chloe sizing up the pull-up bar whilst chalking her hands (Photos below). They each tell a story and represent a moment in time that not everyone was able to witness in person, so capturing that for everyone else is what drives me. Photos are such an individual thing and I love capturing a moment for each person where I can so that they can show others what they do. I guess when someone uses one of those photos in their social media that’s an indication that I’ve been able to capture something they appreciated.
A few things I’ve learned taking photos at the box: Chris Saliba after a workout is always worth preparing for, Chris Newland’s lifts always look dramatic and Drew Napper is always going to do a Napper face!
You have been lucky to travel to many places over your time and I always love hearing about your and Danielle’s travel adventures. Have you got a favourite destination? If so where and why?
I’m a huge Europe fan because there’s so much to see and do in a reasonably small area. The whole area between the Italian lakes, Innsbruck and the French Alps is my absolute favourite part of Europe. Our goal is to live part of the year in one of those places.
What is your favourite movie?
Back to the Future – no question about it. Best movie ever made and I challenge anyone to argue the fact.
Favourite band/music? CrossFit Jam or pump up song if you have one?
I’m all over the place with music but lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Bluegrass covers of popular music. Go and treat yourself.
What is your favourite WOD and why?
The short answer is anything without burpees. I’m a fan of the 3km loop run that leads into some lifts etc.
Can you tell us something about yourself that most people wouldn’t know?
I’m a big observer of the real-life train wreck that is American politics right now. I’ll stay up to watch Senate Committee hearings online if someone interesting is being grilled or if Trump is losing his mind on Twitter. It’s like unscripted drama playing out right in front of us every day.
