KIRK Michael woman Erin Callister will travel to London this weekend to compete as one of ‘the 100 fittest female athletes in Europe’.
The London Throwdown 2013 will pit qualified athletes against each other over two days of intense multi-disciplined physical challenges, for a £5,000 prize, at Brunel University Sports Institute.
Erin and her partner, Dan Bonett, run the CrossFit gym in Braddan, and the competition this Saturday and Sunday falls under the CrossFit brand’s banner.
Regarded as ‘The sport of fitness’, CrossFit events cover a mixture of Olympic weight lifting, power lifting, gymnastics and endurance such as running, rowing and swimming.
Erin scored highly enough in three qualifying workouts to gain a spot at this year’s Throwdown, the European finals, with events to include shuttle sprinting, free-standing hand stands, Olympic clean and snatch lifts, rowing and pull-ups, all with little recovery time in between.
Erin said: ‘The competition side definitely goes hand-in-hand with the idea of the gym. I’m feeling more confident now I’ve seen some of the workouts. It’s a case of going in and doing as well as I can. Competing against World Games athletes is an achievement in itself.’
The 56kg 24-year-old is well suited to the gymnastics-based challenges, but fellow CrossFit athlete Dan has been helping her improve on weight lifting, where her trim physique becomes a disadvantage against women as heavy as 80kgs.
‘There’s talk of including CrossFit in the Olympics, which is really exciting,’ added Erin. ‘It’s not just about the prize money this weekend, it’s being seen by sponsors and making a name for yourself.’