Caitlin Ham and Georgia Pryer have known one another since kindergarten.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The two met as youngsters in the early days of their gymnastics careers for Tamworth Gymnastics. And it was there, on the padded floors among the various apparatus, that they forged a lifelong friendship.
And last week, nearly 20 years later, they started a new adventure together when they, along with Maisie Wilde and Jake Douglas, qualified for the 2024 CrossFit Games semifinals.
"I'm always so proud of [Georgia] and I want her to do the best that she can possibly do," Ham said.
"But seeing her out there, I thought 'I'd love to experience that with her,' especially since we both love it and train together.
"It's pretty special that we get to do that together this year."
To have three of his Snake Athletic members progress past the quarter finals thrilled gym owner and 2023 world finalist, Douglas.
The top 40 men and women from each region around the world made it to the semis. Ham finished in 36th, Wilde, 33rd, and Pryer 12th. But, he said, they would likely have qualified anyway given their determination and talent.
"It's a real credit to their work," Douglas, who placed 33rd in the men's rankings, said.
"You have to put in the work to do it, and I think that we're the house they do it in. They'd probably make it anywhere if they were to train the way they do.
"But it's really - I don't know if 'humbling' is the word - but it's really exciting to see them bloom as athletes."
Wilde, who qualified for the age group semis last year, and Ham will compete at the senior semifinals for the first time from May 24 to 26.
At 18, Wilde has competed in CrossFit for less than two years after transitioning across from gymnastics at the suggestion of the Pryer and Ham. But, she said, the speed of her progression was in part a credit to the older trio's experience and willingness to guide her.
Since making her CrossFit Games debut in 2023, Wilde feels that all aspects of her skills have "started to come together" in the last 12 months.
"My lifts have improved, and my technique's improved," she said.
"So everything is on a steady increase, and it feels like everything has started to pay off ... I feel like I deserve to be at the Torian level now. I'm pretty happy with that."
It is the second time that Pryer has competed at this level, and her confidence has only grown since last year.
The workouts for the upcoming semifinals were recently released, and Pryer feels "pretty good" about most of them.
"There's nothing there that catches any of us by surprise," she said.
"I think we can pretty well do all of the movements. A couple of them are a bit of a bump in the road, but that's to be expected. I have faith in all of them to absolutely smash it."
