From Five to 59 on the Cook Islands

"We're just a little nation of ... maybe 12,000 ... and we've got 120 to 130 members ..."

At just 8 months old, Tumuora CrossFit completed the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games Open with five members. Just 12 months later, the Cook Islands affiliate is fielding an impressive 59 participants in the 2015 Open.

Part of the Australia Region, Tumuora CrossFit sits on the main island of Rarotonga in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. With more than 1,800 miles between Tumuora and another affiliate, in Auckland, New Zealand, it is the most geographically isolated affiliate in the world.

"We're just a little nation of ... maybe 12,000, with 9,000 people on the main island, and then we've got 120 to 130 members, so you feel like really, really tiny in the whole scheme of things," said co-owner Olivia Heather.

“We don't have what other countries have where you have inter-box competitions and you get to mingle, and you get to see others, and you have the rivalry and that. We are just us and us alone in our own little bubble, and so the Games brings us closer,” Heather said. “It's the one time of the year that we become part of something else and something bigger than just our little box.”

Despite initial concerns that an affiliate would not be viable on Rarotonga, Heather and head coach Geoffrey Halston say the island affiliate has thrived over the past 12 months.

"We're pretty much sitting at our capacity at the moment. We've got no space so we're in the process of either expanding or finding a new building," Heather explained.

They have also been attracting the attention of traveling CrossFitters in the region.

"We're slowly developing into this CrossFit holiday destination and there's like one to five tourists in a week and it's crazy. They all want to come in for at least one workout just to know what it's like to work out in the tropics," Heather said.

After dipping their toes in the Open last year, Halston decided to start a competitors group for those looking to train with long-term goals in mind.

"We call it the Firebreathers—so that's about 15 of us who wanted to take it to the next level," Halston said.

This initiative alone would have tripled the participation rate but it was the inclusion of the scaled and teen division in the 2015 Open that really boosted the affiliate’s numbers.

"Really it was just because they did the scaled and teens division. We went to all our members and just pushed,” Heather said. “We said, 'There's teens, there's scaled, there's scaled masters ... there's absolutely no reason why every single one of you can't do this.'”

"We had lots of people who were hesitant and we had to really sell the story because we really wanted them to do it because this is really what CrossFit is about. … and next year when they do the Open again, they'll know what they were the last year ... and you wouldn't have that comparison unless you did the (Open) so we really pushed that."

And what do members think of the workouts in their very first Open?

"They've been loving them. I get a million emails in the lead up to the Thursday announcement," Heather said. "It's been amazing. Everyone that we pushed and encouraged to get into it, they've all come up and said, 'Oh, I'm so happy. I'm so thankful that you got us to do it.'”

She added: "And then the ones that didn't sign up are really gutted that they didn't. So … we're going to be hitting the eighties next year because there are so many (members) that wish that they did it this year."

According to Halston, the Open has increased motivation to perfect movements and learn new skills.

"From the coach's perspectives, it's been really good because as much as you want to drill in—'this movement is really important, do it like this'—sometimes it doesn't hammer home,” Halston said. “But when the movements come up in the Open, now they take the onus upon themselves to come and actually learn it."

Heather agrees and said the Open gave members new confidence to aim for higher things.

During Open Workout 15.2—a combination of overhead squats and chin-over-bar pull-ups for the scaled division—one member went into the workout with no pull-ups under her belt and low confidence in her ability to perform overhead squats. After some intensive mobility work with Halston, she was persuaded to give it a try.

"She came in going, 'OK, I'm just praying for my one,'" Heather explained. "She ended up getting six overhead squats and jumped onto the pull-up bar, and then I think just the adrenalin and because she was so excited ... she ended up getting three pull-ups."

"It's stories like that ... everyone else is sitting there going, 'Oh my god, this is fantastic.' And that is what the Open is all about, really. For the scaled people, the non-competing athletes, that's what this is supposed to be about and it's really awesome that they've introduced scaled and teens because it really gets the whole CrossFit community involved."

The Open highlights strengths and weaknesses for the affiliate as a whole. While many athletes are solid lifters, Halston and Heather believe there is room for improvement in gymnastics.

"We've told everybody, 'That's it! After these Games, this is what our focus is going to be,'" Heather said. "They're all excited whereas before they didn't really care."

"(They would say), 'Oh, I can't do a pull-up. I'll just use bands to do pull-ups,'" Heather continued. "And now (they're saying), 'I'm never using bands again, I'm going to get my one pull-up.' They really want to do it for next year."

"They're just so happy. The 2015 Open is probably the best thing that's happened to our box since we started in terms of getting us included into the CrossFit community," Heather said.

With plans to host an international throw down in 2016, Tumuora CrossFit aims to be an active member of the CrossFit community despite the challenges posed by its remote location.

In the meantime, you can look for Tumuora members in the crowd at the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games.

"Geoff and I have always planned to go to the CrossFit Games this year—to do some networking and go and watch—and we told some of our members and then they started up a big group so there's actually 18 of us that are going to L.A. to the CrossFit Games," Heather said.

She added: "They've got everything planned. What they're going to wear … and (that they'll) take drums. True Cook Islands style when we go to things like this. You will all see us in the crowd.”

Halston confirmed: "You will see and hear us."