New Member Spotlight: July 2017

Evolve Fitness Clearwater has been around for over 3 years now and we have formed a pretty tight, and undeniably awesome, group of people. With that being said, our community is constantly growing. We would like to highlight some of our new members each month as we welcome them to the Manta Ray family! Check out a few of our newest members below and their short bio. Make sure to make them feel welcome when you see them at the box!


 

Olivier Roy De Rives

 

Born in France, I was raised as a cowboy (don’t laugh) and rode horses often, I was also a gymnast for 10 years and even participated in the French Championship, I ran the Paris half Marathon at 17 in one hour and 34 minutes, after dancing all night in a night club! I was an Air Force Commando stationed in Africa and was running 10 miles almost everyday even on 140 degrees temperatures. I moved to the US in 1992, got married, got kids, but did manage to practice Martial arts for a couple of years, then I got divorced, lost my job and my house, and moved back to France in 2004 and started running again, 8 miles a day, and started snowboarding in the winter. In the Spring of 2010 I got my first injury, snowboard fall on an ice patch damaging most of my nerve endings and stopping me from running a good 6 months. In the Summer of 2011 I broke my long head bicep tendon during an arm wrestling contest (I know, it was a dumb thing to do … especially with a guy twice my size) and I had to get it re attached … so another year without doing any sport, and the injuries caused major muscle mass loss on my upper body. I then had a motorcycle accident in Australia in September 2013 and fractured my left knee … 2 months immobilized. Then I moved back to the US in 2014 and was working as a driver for 2 years, 7 days a week, 12 to 16 hours a day, so no much time for sport and not a whole lot of physical activities. In October of 2016, I finally got a job back in my field of IT and started to walk again without pain, I forced myself to go every Saturday morning at the Mall to walk a couple of miles for an hour and taking strolls downtown Dunedin. In February 2017 I was still 212 lbs and could not run very far, but at least I could walk for an hour without my knee screaming, so I started going back out dancing 3 to 4 nights a week and dieting heavily … 2 months later I was down below 180 lbs … but it wasn’t enough, I wanted to build my muscle mass back and replace my current Beer Keg with a 6 pack, so I started to look for places to workout in my area that were opened after work and on weekends … I stumbled across Manta Ray CrossFit, and even though I had no idea what CrossFit was at the time, the website was offering a trial session for free and an introductory first month at $50, which seemed reasonable enough. So I emailed to get my first CrossFit session scheduled, even though everybody I talked to had that “deer in the headlight” look on their face when I told them I was trying out for a CrossFit class! (And now I know why! lol)

 

The first class was hard, but I liked the coaching style and the technical aspect of the workout. I then started my first month with the OnRamp class tailored for beginners and I have to admit that even if chance was involved in me signing up at Manta Ray, the awesome trainers attitude and respect as well as the people training there is what keeps me going and wanting to keep on going. Oh, and by the way, I am still around 180 lbs, but I lost 2 pant’s sizes and gained 10 lbs of muscle since I started … and I eat twice as much!

 

So, thank you for helping me become a better me, both physically and mentally. Glad to slowly be becoming a part of the Manta Ray family.

 

 

John Burgess

My name is John Burgess, 30 y/o and work as a marketing director. I joined EFC because I recently got married and turned 30 and it turns out your body no longer tries it’s hardest to stay thin after that. I choose EFC because of their introduction classes and air conditioning. I am looking to as my wife puts it, turn into a viking, and get some muscle on my body. I am also just looking to push myself and break a sweat on a regular basis.


 

 

Kasey Baker 

My name is Kasey Baker. I’m a 30 y/o dog mom to Tank (pictured) and lawyer. My husband, John Burgess, joined EFC and got me to try it out a few weeks after he started. Cross Fit always intimidated me, so I was happy to start in the OnRamp Class! I’m looking to get fit and have fun!

 


 

 

Stephanie Dulski

I am a lucky wife with two beautiful ginger boys! I work at a CAD CAM software company as Human Resources. I believe in Positive Energy, even on my bad days, I try to see the positive. I love to cook and have a passion for an organic, clean lifestyle, so much so, that I am working towards becoming a licensed dietitian. My goal is to keep improving in life and make today better than yesterday!


Rachel Conter

I originally joined Evolve Fitness Clearwater to get ‘wedding dress ready’, but like many others, quickly became addicted! I love that every workout is different and the challenge that brings. The coaches and members are so welcoming and made me feel like a part of the family from the beginning! I look forward to seeing my progress as I continue my CF journey! 🙂