Jan. 2—Last spring, Lydia Fish was graduating from Chippewa Falls High School.
Now she is training in Georgia to compete at the highest level in CrossFit, a high-intensity competitive fitness sport that incorporates several sports and types of exercise, including weight lifting, gymnastics, swimming and running.
Her ultimate goal is to reach the CrossFit Games, the pinnacle of the sport, she says.
“I’m trying to live the dream,” Fish said.
Fish got her start almost three years ago, when she decided to pursue the sport after winning the Run For the Lights race in Chippewa Falls.
She says she realized that she really enjoyed competing and was intrigued with the high-intensity sport of CrossFit.
“It’s just a sport that has everything,” Fish said.
Fish said that because she participated in many sports growing up, CrossFit suits her well because she has a variety of strengths and abilities.
“You can’t specialize in necessarily one aspect of it, you kind of have to be good at everything,” Fish said.
Her senior year of high school, Fish quit all other school sports to solely focus on CrossFit.
During her senior year of high school, Fish finished sixth in her age group at Wodapalooza, a national CrossFit Festival in Miami.
After graduation in the spring, she moved down to Georgia to train at the Training Think Tank, which is a facility in Alpharetta, GA where many elite athletes train. She has a new coach in Georgia who has worked with many elite athletes, Fish said.
She is currently training for her next Wodapalooza, which takes place January 12-15 in Miami, FL.
Fish said the opportunity to compete against the best competition motivates her and inspires her in her training.
“It’s just really cool to see other people, especially my age, push each other and see the work they put in and their skill,” Fish said.
She said that while it’s fun to try to beat the best, it can also be a little intimidating.
“You just have to trust the work you put in,” Fish said.
Fish says competing in such an intense sport has taught her a lot about herself and allowed her to grow as a person.
“It’s taught me a lot about mental strength, being able to push yourself harder than you thought you could,” Fish said. “It’s (also) taught me discipline, just being able to stick to training consistently and everything else that goes into it so you are able to perform at the highest level.”
Fish credits her first CrossFit coach, Allison Short, who owns CrossFit Chippewa, for helping her start off on this journey she is on.
She also credits her family for pushing her to move down to Georgia, moving out of her comfort zone, to train to compete at the highest level, Fish said.
Fish hopes to one day reach the CrossFit Games, the highest level the sport has to offer.
