DURBAN North’s Billy Pullen has qualified for the CrossFit Regionals in Spain in May. Pullen, a former South African sprint canoeist, is now one of CrossFit’s shining talents. Incredibly, he finished third in South Africa and fifth in Africa in the CrossFit Open in order to make the regional event.

“In order to make the regional event, we had to follow a workout routine released every day and then record ourselves doing it and submit it on the CrossFit website. I was pretty happy with my performances and I feel I could’ve improved on some aspects. It was definitely the hardest open that I’ve competed in and the level of competition is becoming insane.

“I’m really looking forward to competing in Spain. It’s going to be great experience and the top guys from around the world will be competing, which will give me a sense of where I need to be. My goal is to make the top 10 and I’m confident I can do that,” he said.

One of the key aspects of CrossFit is the notion of community, something Pullen says helped him through the tougher moments in the qualification process.

“You have to work hard to get to the top, and when you are pushing past your boundaries and you have people shouting words of encouragement at you, you can only succeed. The community at CrossFit Shumba is amazing and they’ve been wonderfully supportive,” he said.