We are extremely lucky to be surrounded by so many talented, hard working humans.
Our Beast Mode Athletica sponsored athletes are not only hard working, skillfull individuals but they inspire others to do the same.
ROXANNE WALKER
ROXY'S STORY
• I started Gymnastics when I was 4yrs old and was addicted straight away. My dream from very early on was to be an Olympic gymnast superstar. Little did I know my journey through life would take me on a very different path. From the age of 4 through to 15 I was a committed gymnast training 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. It was my life and my world. I was selected to train at WAIS (Western Australian Institute Of Sport) yet being 1 of 6 Children, raised by a single Mum and living 1 hour away from WAIS I was unable to pursue this.
I continued with Gymnastics at my local club and competed at a state level from 1994 through to 2000. At this stage the years of training had taken its toll and I focused on my final two years of TEE at school. I began playing on the school girls AFL team for fun for those next two years. After graduating year 12 I joined the Royal Australian Navy and continued to play on the Navy Females AFL team. In 2003 and 2004 I was selected to play on the TRI Forces National Team and compete in the AFL Women’s National Championships.
In 2004 after realising that the Navy really wasn’t for me I discharged and decided to try something completely new. Boxing. I was hooked at once. I wanted to train everyday and it became everything I thought about for the next 6 years. I trained like a Beast and made the state team after a few years of training. In 2009 I competed in the ARAFURA Games. My first International event with 48 Countries in attendance. I won a gold medal for Australia after winning all my bouts along with obtaining a record for the fastest TKO of 32 seconds in the first round.
My dream of competing at an Olympic Games had once again been ignited as talk of the year 2012 being the Inaugural year for females to compete. Once the green light was given for females to compete in 2012 the wait began for the announcement of the three weight divisions that were being accepted for this first year of females. Sadly my weight division of 57kg was not one of the weight divisions selected for this first year of competition.
When the news came out I had to re-evaluate my position and decided to travel to Sydney in pursuit of beginning my professional boxing career. After a one off opportunity to attend a training Camp in Sydney I was recognised for having some talent and was lucky enough to be training under the tutelage of Master trainer Billy Hussein. Due to some of the politics that surround boxing along with being a female in a male dominated sport my professional career never took off and I decided to take a year of all competitive sports. (I became a hard-core Zumba addict and did ballroom dancing for fun!!
One afternoon whilst driving home from my Zumba class I saw a bunch of girls on the beach front swinging around what I now know to be kettle bells. I thought it looked interesting and decided to give it a go. The coach (Hailey) asked if I had ever heard of Crossfit before which I had not. She suggested I attend her “Box” and give it a go as she thought it might be something I would be interested in. Hailey introduced me to the world of Crossfit. My competitive edge had returned after my very first session and I became a member straight away. Before entering the Box for the first time I had never lifted a weight in my life.
After a couple of months of Crossfit training I attended my first Olympic lifting class with Coach Danielle Waller. A champion in her own right Danielle was selected on the Australian Team to lift at the Sydney Olympics test event and has broken world records in Masters lifting at 3 world events. Danielle has been a coach and team manager at Oceania and Commonwealth champs along with refereeing at this level. It was a lot more technical then I thought 2 movements could possibly be and that is what I loved about it right away. Danielle is a perfectionist so I know I have my work cut out for me. My competitive edge had returned and Olympic Weightlifting was my new endeavour. I attended every class I could and Danielle put in a ridiculous amount of her own time training me at her own home gym.
After a few months of training I came second at the state titles, competing in the 58kg weight category and qualified for the state team to compete in the Nationals in Brisbane last year. I came 6th overall. Over the course of my first year of training I have broken the WA state record for the snatch in the 58kg weight category snatching 66kg.
- Currently ranked 1st in WA in Sinclair
- Currently ranked 6th in Australia in 58kg
- Currently lifting a B grade total (best total to date was my last comp 150kg)
I have qualified for the Nationals again this year in November and my goal is to place in the top 3 this year. My future goals for next year are to qualify for the Australian team and compete in the world championships. My Dream to be an Olympic athlete one day lives on. This is what drives me and keeps my passion and love for the sport alive.
NATASHA BRADLEY -
CLAIRE FERNANDEZ -