CrossFit: Georgia Pryer and Jake Douglas to compete in CrossFit Down Under Championships

That, however, is not the case for Jake Douglas and Georgia Pryer, who one can tell from first glance are both enthusiastic fitness competitors.

This week, the pair will look to improve their standing on the international stage at the CrossFit Down Under Championships in Wollongong, which begin on Friday.

But it is an understatement to describe them simply as 'competitors'.

Both live and breathe fitness, and Douglas owns Snake Athletic, where he and Pryer are also coaches. However, each of them found CrossFit quite by accident.

Pryer's interest in the sport began when she turned 18, after a long stint as a gymnast, and began looking for a new hobby.

"I did gymnastics first for 11 years up until I was 18," Pryer said.

"When I stopped that, I had some friends doing CrossFit, and I needed something to fill that gap of doing gymnastics so often. So I joined in with them."

The 23-year-old initially did not intend to compete in the sport, but soon took part in a couple of local competitions and found some success.

At 31 years old, Douglas has a longer history in CrossFit, having been introduced to it more than a decade ago.

"I found CrossFit when I was overseas playing some rugby ... it was a training method I liked," he said.

"I moved back to Tamworth after a couple of years away and it wasn't really here and I started and that's how it evolved. I decided one year that I wouldn't mind having a crack at making the [CrossFit] Games, and that was nearly 10 years ago."

Both Tamworth locals have competed in the Down Under Championships once before, in 2019.

This year, they come into the event ranked 10^th (Pryer) and 5^th (Douglas) among the Oceania region. But rather than focusing on where they hope to finish in the competition, which will feature a bevy of competitors from all over the world, they hope to perform consistently across all disciplines.

"We've been training really hard on the things that led to those placings, chinks in the fitness armour," Douglas said.

"We've tried to fix our weaknesses, so it'll be interesting to see if we have a more well-rounded set of finishes. Instead of a first and a 15^th, we'd much rather see a bunch of fifths."

The training for this competition has been unique, as it is considered "out of season", Douglas said.

And given Pryer's relative newness to the sport, she was able to lean on Douglas' knowledge and past experience, for which she said she was grateful.

"It makes it easier," she said.

"When Jake started, there wasn't really much around to go off, so he was figuring it out on his own. So having him there who's already done it, it's so much easier not to do silly things, or things you don't need to do.

"I've got him guiding me in the right direction."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: