Africa-Press – Kenya. CrossFit is slowly but surely gaining popularity in Nairobi Kenya with more city residents enrolling in daily classes.
FirstPower Fitness Galleria along Lang’ata road has up to 120 members who flock to the facility on a daily basis to not only keep fit but also compete in the country and across the World.
After successfully competing in the ‘Fittest in Nairobi’ held recently at FirstPower Fitness Galleria, eight Kenyans are preparing to compete at the Elfit CrossFit Games in Egypt between November 9 and 12th.
FirstPower CrossFit has two teams that have qualified for Elfit 2022, a CrossFit-licensed event taking place in Cairo, Egypt between November 10-12.
FirstPower Fitness Galleria ranked third overall in the qualifiers of the event that took place in August 2022 and is the highest-placed team representing Kenya at the event.
Kenya will be represented by eight athletes Collins Mande—captain of one of the FirstPower teams—who was titled the Fittest man in Kenya in the last two years, Boniface Guchu and Joyce Wanjiku, a software engineer who has now done CrossFit for three years. Others are Lawrence Nyamwaro, Ron Kipchumba, Elly Ongeri, Brian Malusi and Winnie Okoth.
“It’s an honour going to compete in Egypt,” said Boniface Guchu.
“I want to gain experience just like we did in Cape Town. It’s tougher and more interesting because it’s open to people outside Africa unlike in Cape Town and so it’s bigger than the previous event. I would like to see where I rank this time round because last time it was a bit of an introduction for me.”
Elfit 2022 will be life-changing for Kenya’s eight qualified athletes as they enter the international stage with an opportunity to represent their home country alongside well-recognized CrossFit athletes from all over the world.
Canadian Brent Fikowski, a third-place podium finisher in the internationally televised 2021 CrossFit Games, is among the top-tier athletes slated to compete in this year’s Elfit competition.
Boniface Guchu, who has done CrossFit for two years, adds that: “It will be challenging but we’ll keep our heads high knowing what we want as we represent the country. I competed in the just concluded Fittest in Nairobi and it gave me adequate preparation for Elfit in Egypt so I’m looking forward to the event.”
Joyce Wanjiku, a Software Engineer in Nairobi, will enter the ladies’ category. “It feels amazing because when I started CrossFit in 2019, I didn’t think I would be competing at this level where I’m going to Elfit. My target is to do my best because it’s a new scenario. I don’t know what to expect. I just know I should put my A game together with my teammates and do the best I can.”
Wanjiku, who didn’t play any sport in school and only picked CrossFit after watching the games on TV, has to balance time between work and exercising at Galleria.
“I have to make time. As a Software engineer, it can get stressful and the workload is a lot. Sometimes I come at 5 am and others at 6 am so that I get time to do this because if I need an outlet from work and this is my outlet.
FirstPower Fitness Galleria was founded by American citizen Bryant Swenson and his wife Lauren Swenson who have helped spread the idea of CrossFit in Nairobi with their Galleria branch hosting several events and daily sessions. They came to Kenya after running a vibrant CrossFit Gym in the United States for a decade.
“My husband and I started FirstPower Fitness in 2019 and came from the US after having run across the gym there for about 10 years. CrossFit is a constantly very functional movement done with high intensity. We are taking our population and developing athleticism across a lot of modalities just building each individual so that they can respond to life challenges,” said Lauren.
Both Lauren and Bryant Swenson have a level 2 trainer certificate for completing the intermediate course of study for teaching CrossFit movements and methodology to others.
“We came to Kenya because we had friends who had lived here since 2000 and they loved it and were exposed to CrossFit when they came to our gym way back when CrossFits began in 2008 and over time they kept telling us how great Kenya is and then told us we really needed to make a change and try doing CrossFit in Nairobi.”
“The response has been fantastic. It’s really fun to have people join us and start the CrossFit journey. Some of them haven’t been inside a gym before, others just want to level up. I am a woman and I love seeing women find strength but overall it has been an amazing journey and the people of Nairobi are fantastic.”
“The event in Egypt is one of the larger competitions that happen on a regional basis that add to the competitive season and prepare athletes for the big games which CrossFit worldwide that happen yearly. We are raising Sh1m for the six athletes and coaches to get airfare, food, entry fee and all that to be able to get there.”
“It is a really fantastic way to build overall athleticism because it incorporates weight lifting and great overall cardio work and a great foundation for just any specialised sport. We are happy and comfortable with being able to meet the general population’s needs.”
“One of the benefits of joining Firstpower Fitness is you are in an environment where you can develop as a person and an athlete. We are a community that values togetherness and teachability and tenacity to take you to transmission. We pride ourselves on being a place where everyone is welcome where everyone can bring their health and wellness to the table and see it make small gains over time that end up equaling transformation.”
There will be a fund-raising event co-hosted by FirstPower CrossFit and AlphaFit at the FirstPower CrossFit gym at Galleria Shopping Mall in Lang’ata on November 5 for all athletes representing these functional fitness communities as they seek to raise Sh1m.
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