General News
4 June, 2024
Iredell reaches new heights
Not even a couple of years into her CrossFit journey, Horsham's Ema Iredell has already reached heights she didn't know she could or would.
Iredell, 29, has been doing CrossFit full time since November 2022 when HCF CrossFit opened its doors.
She already played netball for Laharum and basketball in the CBL representing the Horsham Hornets.
"I first heard about CrossFit through my sister who had just started participating in classes when she lived in Geelong, so I thought I’d give it a crack and feel in love with it instantly," she said.
"The community here at HCF CrossFit , it’s like a family with welcoming arms to anyone and everyone that’s willing to just give it a go.
"It really is a great way to be able to keep yourself active and make some friends along the way."
There's been challenges along the way, like learning both new and old tricks.
"Learning certain movements that I have either never done before or only done when I was a small child, such as gymnastics work on the bars and rings," Iredell reflected.
"Apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks!"
But for the effort comes reward, and for Iredell, this came in reaching the semi finals at an event recently.
"Every year CrossFit hold what is called the ‘CrossFit Open’," Iredell said.
"Everyone in the world can compete in this competition.
"It is from here where the Ttop 25 per cent of Individual Open athletes on each continent advance to the second stage of the competition, the Quarterfinals, and from there they take the Top 40 men and men in the Oceania region who then advance to the third stage, Semifinals.
"It was never my intention to make it this far, especially given how new I am to CrossFit, people try for many years to get to this level and if ever at all, so it was a real surprise for me."
Iredell admitted she was nervous and scared to compete, but thought to herself: "Why not? It’s better to have tried and failed than failed to have tried”.
"Getting to compete out on the completion floor against some of the best women in the world and having your face all over live stream can be very daunting but once the buzzer goes you somehow click into game mode and then before you know it it’s all over," she said.
"It was such a surreal experience."
Iredell said she must thank her supporters and said if it wasn't for them in the back of her mind, she wouldn't have pushed as hard as she did.
When asked who inspires or motivates her, Iredell made an interesting revelation.
"Believe it or not I get a lot of inspiration from all of the strong CrossFit mums out there that manage to find the time to juggle fitness and kids," she said.
"It’s something I hope to aspire to in the near future."