Crossfit athlete is super-dedicated

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/06/2019 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Syd Michalyshen is a 19-year-old in her third year at the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management at the University of Manitoba.

She is also a remarkably dedicated crossfit athlete.

“Crossfit is basically functional fitness and I compete in it. It combines cardio, weight lifting, gymnastics and basically any other functional movement, like box jumps for instance. I competed in my first competition at the CanEast Games and it was an incredible experience,” she says.
“I was competing against girls that had been competing in crossfit for quite some time, while I have been involved with the sport for about a year. I finished seventh out of 16 girls. It was a wonderful experience.”

The how and why of an athlete getting involved with a sport is often interesting.

Such is the case with Syd, who has completely embraced crossfit.

“One of my friends was doing crossfit at a gym and she thought I might be good at it. Soon after that I got in touch with Justin Webber from CrossFit Roborean, who is now my coach,” Syd explains.
“I am there six days a week, two sessions a day, for about three hours a session. My long-term goal is to make the CrossFit Games,” she says. “I follow a good diet but I don’t count calories. I try to keep my diet clean and stay away from junk food. I basically eat when I’m hungry.”

Syd says she loves what she is studying.

“I love that I get to pick a field I am so passionate about. I knew pretty much out of high school that this was the education I wanted. Phys-ed has always been a passion for me.”

Syd is ferociously dedicated and it isn’t hard to imagine her achieving her goals with CrossFit.
She offers this to other athletes:

“If you love something, go for it. It doesn’t matter how many hours or how long it takes, just go for it. It will be worth it in the end.”

Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Troy Westwood is co-host of The Big Show, every weekday morning from 6 to 10 a.m. on TSN 1290 radio. He writes about Winnipeg’s unsung sports heroes every other week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. If you know of an athlete whose story Troy should tell, contact him at: troy.westwood@bellmedia.ca