“My long term goal no doubt is to get to the CrossFit Games.”
Photos by: Ashley Van Horne
Fifteen-year-old Coulter Turchin doesn’t have classic childhood dreams of being a firefighter, an NFL player, an Olympian or a lawyer. Boasting a 315-lb. deadlift, a 205-lb. clean and 63 unbroken pull-ups, this high school freshman is dedicated to his goal of reaching the CrossFit Games.
After completing the first four Open workouts at his affiliate, CrossFit South Bay, Turchin reflects on the Open and looks forward to 13.5.
Turchin began CrossFit at age 12 in Aspen, Colo., with his father, Mike. At the time, it was a much different scene than Turchin was used to.
“I didn’t really know what to expect for my first workout. We went in the first day, and just saw an open room,” Turchin remembers. “No machines, some barbells, bumper plates and a pull-up rig. I didn’t know what to think of it, because I’d never seen a gym that looks like that. Our first workout was a half Cindy. It was brutal, but a lot of fun.”
After moving to California in 2011 and joining CrossFit South Bay, he shifted away from high school sports and started heavily pursuing CrossFit.
“When I first moved to California, I started playing football again, and I realized that I just didn’t love it as much as I did back in Colorado,” Turchin says. “I started spending two hours a day in the gym multiple times a week just getting stronger, and loved the variety in the workouts. My coaches at CrossFit South Bay are amazing and took great care of me. That’s when I started to focus on CrossFit as my sport.”
Most high school freshmen might find it intimidating to enter a gym full of adult CrossFit athletes, but not Turchin.
“It’s fun because not only are the workouts intense, the community aspect is really cool,” he says. “You have people around that are your friends, and even though they’re not my age, I always feel included. Sometimes, the coaches invite me to work out with them, and that’s always really fun.”
“I don’t feel like a kid with adults. Nobody in the gym sees me as a teenager. I really think they see me as a friend.”
A coach at CrossFit South Bay, Forrest Jung, agrees.
“Coulter is one impressive kid,” Jung says. “He’s one of the most polite, respectful, friendly people at our gym, of any age. You have to look at this kid pushing such an incredible amount of weight for his size and age, sometimes in at 6:30 a.m. before school, sometimes in the gym until the last class of the night. You watch him beat every person in the class in the WOD, and then you have to laugh to yourself and wonder, ‘How is this kid going to go home now and finish his science project?’”
Although he may not feel like a kid in the gym, there’s still no getting around the impressive fact that Turchin is indeed doing workouts written for grown men. So far in the Open, he has completed everything as prescribed, including an impressive 250 reps on 13.3, which earned him 504th place in SoCal that week.
Turchin was excited to demonstrate his improvements from the 2012 Open, where he was unable to perform the 115-lb. push presses in Workout 12.3.
This year is a different story.
“I was able to do everything except for the 115 last year, but every workout felt extremely heavy and challenging,” Turchin says. “This year, I really feel like I can do everything comfortably at the Rx’d level. 13.2 had the 115-lb. push presses in it. It wasn’t bad at all. The 20-lb. wall balls in 13.3 this year weren’t nearly as bad as they felt last year in 12.4. Everything is way more manageable because I’ve gotten so much stronger.”
Turchin also points out how much he learns about life from CrossFit.
“I’ve learned a ton of discipline from CrossFit. In terms of eating, I eat pretty close to strict paleo and would’ve never done that before,” Turchin says. “I also started doing better in school. When I moved to California from Colorado, the schools out here were a lot more challenging, so learning to be disciplined and on a schedule helped me get my homework done on time, do better on tests and everything.”
Unlike most teenagers, Turchin spends his time watching videos of his favorite CrossFitter, Josh Bridges. He even attended his Level 1 Seminar, and although he wasn’t allowed to take the test because of his age, he soaked up all the information possible. Turchin has ambitions of being a CrossFit coach.
“My Level 1 was an amazing experience. It was a lot to take in, but it was broken down really well. Even though I didn’t get to take the test, I feel like I learned a lot in terms of the movements, programming and how to work with different athletes,” Turchin says.
Turchin’s goals of becoming a CrossFit coach and a participant at the CrossFit Games, represents a new generation, a generation that sees CrossFit as a possible career and sees Josh Bridges and Miranda Oldroyd as professional athletes.
“Coulter is absolutely one of the rare kids that has gotten to do CrossFit since he was 12,” Jung says. “He’s growing with the sport, and leading the charge of a new style of teen athlete that is going to look to CrossFit as the ultimate sport.”
“My long term goal no doubt is to get to the CrossFit Games,” Turchin says. “I’ve set short term goals that will keep me improving every year until eventually, I get to the spot to make it to the Games, and potentially win the Games.”
