My name is Rachel Brindley and I am 21 years old.
I grew up an athlete, because with three older brothers who were constantly in sports I didn't quite have the option not to go into sports myself. I was a gymnast, basketball player, cheerleader and swimmer. I grew to love water sports and began focusing on them in high school, specifically swimming and water polo.
When I was 15 I began to have problems with one of my knees. I pushed through the water polo season with chronic knee pain and had my first knee surgery at age 15. Exactly one year later I had my second knee surgery from the same meniscus repair surgery on the same knee due to another injury previously that summer.
I went on to play college water polo in Monterey but ended up quitting due to the chronic knee pain I was suffering. I gave up on sports and working out altogether, because I was scared that I could cause a third knee surgery. Going on simple hikes would make me go on crutches for a week due to swelling, while going out dancing with my boyfriend would end with him holding me up as I tried to walk.
I began working with the childcare at a CrossFit box in Monterey and I would stick around afterward to watch the workouts. Then, one year after my decision to stop playing sports, I decided to ask the box owner if I could try cross training and from that moment I never stopped. My knee strength grew incredibly since then and now I can do anything I want without worrying about how I will walk around.
This year I competed in the CrossFit Open 2016 and found out just how far I have come since I began doing CrossFit. I felt great after each workout and I was happy to break in my Mava hand grips during the WODs. I got through all the workouts of the Games watching people's hands tear while my grip was perfectly fine.
Since competing in the CrossFit Games, I changed my focus entirely on weightlifting as I train for the National Under 25 Championships as a 63kg lifter.
Rachel Brindley,
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer