"I have always had a massive interest in health, functional fitness and sport. I was therefore drawn to the CrossFit training, lifestyle and way of doing things."
The most that is known about David Levey at this stage is that he is the winner of the 2012 CrossFit Games Open in Africa. Along with the winner of the women’s competition, Wilna Appel, Levey is a relative newcomer to the sport of fitness after having only begun CrossFit training in November 2011. At 34, however, Levey had a strong athletic background prior to starting CrossFit.
“I played some provincial rugby (at U/21 level), represented my province in long jump and discus, and have competed and had international podium finishes in Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at blue and purple belt level,” he says.
Levey is well educated in human performance, too. He holds a Human Movement Science degree and is a qualified biokineticist (kinesiologist). “The HMS degree exposed me to a lot of different sports, including gymnastics, which has been great for CrossFit,” he says. “And the conditioning I used for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has provided me with a solid training background.”
Levey owns one of the newest affiliates in South Africa. “I have always had a massive interest in health, functional fitness and sport,” he says. “I was therefore drawn to the CrossFit training, lifestyle and way of doing things.”
Attending the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar was a natural step for him. As soon as his affiliation was approved in November 2011, he began training for competition.
Levey found the Open to be a valuable learning experience. “I repeated three of the Open workouts for a second time to merely see how employing a different strategy, and focusing on efficiency and better movement mechanics, would improve my score.”
As is true to competition, Levey says the Open was beneficial in identifying some of his weaknesses.
After aiming for a top 15 placing in the Open, Levey’s performances in the first three workouts led him to believe he had a chance at winning. “After the third round, I noticed that I was in with a chance, which fueled my training and competition efforts.”
Winning has certainly added fuel to that fire. “My goals forward are to continue setting [personal bests] on a regular basis through consistent and smart training, and to win the African Regionals.”
Levey humbly accepts he is new to the sport and has certain weaknesses, and that competition is tough, but his primary training goal is entry to the 2012 CrossFit Games.
Athlete Stats
Age: 34 years
Weight: 87 kg
Max deadlift: 195 kg
Max back squat: 175 kg
3RM Clean: 115 kg
Max Snatch: 90 kg
Max Clean & jerk: 105 kg
Fran: 2:26
Cindy: 26 rounds
Grace: 1:36
Diane: 3:07
Barbara: 15:50 work time
Angie: 12:38
Helen: 7:07
400m sprint: 0:50
