COVER INTERVIEW
Aimee Cringle is one of the best UK female CrossFit athletes. Here, she talks about her journey to the top, overcoming weaknesses and building muscle to power her performance
I don’t think there’s been a day in my life during which I haven’t done something active. I did gymnastics from a young age and started athletics and cross country at the age of 11, but I only heard about CrossFit from a friend at school when I was 14. He explained how CrossFit combines many fitness elements such as gymnastics and athletics with skills work, and I thought it sounded like so much fun. So, I went along to my first kid’s class on a Sunday at the CrossFit IOM [Isle of Man] gym with my two best friends and, 10 years later, I’m still doing it.
I can’t say I touched a barbell when I started doing CrossFit a few times a week. It was more about kids running around doing kettlebell swings. I was still focusing on athletics at the time – specifically, the long jump – but I kept getting shin splints and that meant
I couldn’t run that much, so CrossFit helped me keep fit and get a sweat on. I loved it so much that I started paying more to get extra programming from my coach at the age of 16, with a view to entering competitions for fun.
I had no idea back then that CrossFit would end up being my career. It was only when I came fourth in the 2020 European Championships after coming 49th the year before that I realised I wasn’t too bad at CrossFit. I was studying for my nursing degree at this point, but it seemed only natural to try and get on the podium the next year. I achieved that goal in 2021 when I won the European Championships title, and after winning it once, I figured I had to try and win it again [Cringle won it again in 2022].
I decided to become a full-time CrossFit athlete in July 2021 once I finished my degree. I had a few sponsors by this point and, while no one put any pressure on me, I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well – especially because I didn’t want to waste my degree. But I knew I could return to nursing later, so I moved to England in August 2022, trained with a new coach and gave it my best shot. So far this year, I have placed first in the UK in the first stage of the season (the Open) and so hope to qualify for the final stage of T
