Caleb Beaver (00:00):
Watch me eat.
Sevan Matossian (00:01):
Yeah, yeah. So people can judge you. Bam. We’re live. Ryan, good morning.
Brian Friend (00:07):
Good morning,
Sevan Matossian (00:08):
Kayla. Good morning.
Caleb Beaver (00:10):
Good morning.
Sevan Matossian (00:14):
Uh, hey, I, I was, um, looking at the numbers this morning f from all the guests we’ve had on, and I just wanted to thank you guys in the comments. I was just thinking about how much you guys helped with, uh, Dave and Danielle. I mean, you guys help every morning with your comments. It’s funny, uh, it adds to the show, but with Dave and Danielle and Rich, you guys have been just off the hook, so thank you. I appreciate it. Don’t you think, Caleb?
Caleb Beaver (00:40):
Definitely. It’s been
Sevan Matossian (00:42):
Really awesome. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.
Caleb Beaver (00:44):
Oh, it’s okay.
Brian Friend (00:46):
It’s
Sevan Matossian (00:46):
Okay. Good. Uh, we are getting close to, uh, waap. Pza. Um, Brian, is your brain getting, uh, crowded at all? Like with too much information or any, any, any, you know, overwhelmed or,
Brian Friend (01:01):
It’s a lot of athletes. About 40 in the elite divisions and about 40 teams in the elite divisions. So that’s, uh, uh, 300 and what is that? 360 athletes. So, uh, there’s a lot.
Sevan Matossian (01:13):
Hey, there’s so many good athletes that, um, we’re kind of destined to neglect people this year, huh? Some people are gonna get lost who don’t deserve to get lost.
Brian Friend (01:21):
Yeah. Uh, with the articles I’ve been writing for Bar Bend, I’m trying to diversify my picks a little bit, so I’ve kind of self-imposed a rule. I, I won’t, I’m trying not to pick anyone more than twice, um, so that we can get a, you know, people can have a little bit of a, uh, understanding for some of the other or lesser known athletes, um, that might have a good workout on one of one, one of these events. Uh, but may, may not do great overall. I think that’s one way we can help.
Sevan Matossian (01:49):
So you’re putting people in to win the events, even though you don’t really think they’re gonna win them, just to introduce them to the people.
Brian Friend (01:55):
Yeah. So I might, I might call it like a pick to click instead of a pick to win. And this is like, this might be their best out of the weekend. They may have a top five finish, you know, uh, I’m not just gonna pick, uh, if there are six events, I’m not just gonna pick Gee, Vener, Roman, and Ricky to win every one of ’em. Like, I might pick him one each if I think there’s a workup that’ll do good on it, and then I’ll try to pick someone else who may do very well on that workup. Maybe it’s a third or fourth,
Sevan Matossian (02:19):
Uh, but you’ll be honest, you’ll say, Hey, gee’s not gonna win this, but he’s gonna look the best doing it.
Brian Friend (02:25):
Yep. Exactly.
Sevan Matossian (02:27):
Paige, hi. Good morning.
Paige Powers (02:28):
Hello. Good
Sevan Matossian (02:29):
Morning. Good morning. Nice to meet you. I’m Sev and that’s Brian. That, that’s
Paige Powers (02:33):
Brian. Hi. Nice to meet you guys.
Brian Friend (02:35):
Hey, Paige.
Sevan Matossian (02:36):
I watched, uh, have you guys met before?
Brian Friend (02:40):
Uh, I don’t know that we’ve actually had, uh, been in a lot of the same competitions at the same time, so I don’t, I don’t think so. Yeah.
Paige Powers (02:46):
Yeah, I don’t think so, but it’s nice to meet you.
Sevan Matossian (02:49):
I watched a three or four year podcast yesterday, so I feel like I know you maybe may, maybe more
Paige Powers (02:56):
Me.
Sevan Matossian (02:56):
Yeah.
Paige Powers (02:57):
<laugh>. Oh, nice.
Sevan Matossian (02:58):
Hey, do you watch, do you watch a, if someone invites you onto a podcast, do you watch one of their podcasts before you go on?
Paige Powers (03:06):
Um, yeah, sometimes. Yeah. Kind of just to get a feel of what I’m signing myself up for
Sevan Matossian (03:12):
<laugh>. Do you watch before you say Yes?
Paige Powers (03:15):
Um, typically no.
Sevan Matossian (03:19):
Yeah, I’m guilty of that too. I invite people on without like, just sometimes like fully vetting them.
Paige Powers (03:24):
Yeah. <laugh>. That’s okay.
Sevan Matossian (03:27):
You ever been on one that you like afterwards you’re like, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have done that one?
Paige Powers (03:32):
Um, probably not.
Sevan Matossian (03:34):
Oh, good. Okay. Well, shoot, I hope I don’t screw your perfect record up there,
Paige Powers (03:38):
<laugh>. Oh, thank you Will. There’s definitely things that, like I’ve said before, that I’m like, not that it was bad, but it was just like, kind of like stupid to say. Like, I remember I did a podcast with, um, Jared, um, um,
Sevan Matossian (03:56):
Gray Beal. Yes.
Paige Powers (03:58):
I, yes. Okay. That’s how I was gonna say it, but I didn’t wanna butcher it. Yeah. Um, but I, he asked if there was an animal that I’d like to talk to, what it would be. I said a pig, and I got a ton of crap from my friends <laugh> on that one. So
Sevan Matossian (04:14):
What did they want you to say? Shut up. That’s a stupid question. The next question,
Paige Powers (04:18):
I guess. Well, they were like, pick something, like more like a lion where, you know, they’re aggressive and I was like, no. Like, I wanna talk to a pig. I mean,
Sevan Matossian (04:29):
I’m not a Haiti,
Paige Powers (04:31):
They have movies on pigs. So I was like, yeah, I feel like it’s a fair answer. Yeah.
Brian Friend (04:36):
It is amazing though. Sometimes I’ll, I’ll do one of these or I’ll do a, a, a broadcast or something, and I know that a majority of it was good, but there’s one thing that maybe no one else even notices it. And I reflect on it for like a month, and I like, believe I did that
Paige Powers (04:50):
<laugh>. Yeah, for sure.
Sevan Matossian (04:52):
Brian, um, are you from working on this podcast and then working on something that’s, uh, more polished? Like, um, hosting the, um, what was the one in the desert called?
Brian Friend (05:05):
Are you talking about Dubai?
Sevan Matossian (05:06):
Uh, Dubai, yes. After then the commentating for Dubai. Um, do you ever, like, feel like uhoh this be better not come out of my mouth, um, here, like, like do you think I’ve corrupted you on this podcast?
Brian Friend (05:20):
No. No. I think I know how to handle you just Okay. At least adequately.
Sevan Matossian (05:24):
I agree. I think you do handle me adequately. Um, page powers 25th at the games in 2000, uh, 22. That’s your du uh, not your Dubai, your debut. It’s another D word, your debut as an individual. Um, uh, man, you, you stand out, man. You are a, uh, special person when you take the field. You do some really cool stuff. Uh, you took third place twice as a teen. Yes. In the 14 to 15 and then the 16 to 17. And then, was that, were you 16 when you, like Brian’s so proud of me. I, I, that was like, like a proud father the way he was smiling. <laugh>. When, when you took that third place, um, in the 16, 17, were you 16 or 17?
Paige Powers (06:14):
I was 16.
Sevan Matossian (06:15):
And then, and then, and then what happened after that? Then you were kind of off the scene for till 2022. Was that like covid stuff or what happened?
Paige Powers (06:23):
Yeah, the next year I was 17, so it was my last chance to compete as a team, Uhhuh <affirmative>, and it was canceled because of Covid. Okay. And then following year, um, was my first time out, like in the open division, and, um, I didn’t qualify. And then
Brian Friend (06:44):
You made semifinals.
Paige Powers (06:45):
Past year was my first time
Brian Friend (06:47):
You made semi-finals in 2021. Yes. Those were online. Yes. So I was like, yeah,
Sevan Matossian (06:52):
Yeah. Hey, did that hurt? What, what’s the deal? What’s the deal with that? So you’re this great teen athlete. Well, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll talk about that here in a second too. Whether you were a great teen athlete or if whether the competition was just junk, but, um, uh, <laugh> and it may not have been. I’m, I’m, I’m open. I’m open. Yeah. Um, uh, but, um, was that hard in 2021 or was that, were you like, Hey man, this is already crazy ambitious of me?
Paige Powers (07:18):
Um, no, it was hard. I actually, I definitely expected to qualify to the games, or at least have like a good shot. And then like, coming in 21st on top of that, I was like, wow, okay. Like I have a lot more work that I have to do that I didn’t like, realize that I wasn’t, you know, like on the same level. But like going from quarter finals where I was like, that year I believe I was with him, like a pretty good spot of qualifying. Like if we went based off of that and then just being like so completely knocked down at semis was, it was pretty tough.
Brian Friend (07:59):
But ba basically what she’s referring to is that she was 23rd in the quarterfinals that year, and that’s out of all the women in North America after the semi-finals were split into force, distinct semi-finals, she was 21st in a field of 30. So it was a significant step back in her mind from her quarterfinal performance. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (08:18):
Wow. You put some crazy pressure on yourself, huh? Mm-hmm. Or, or you have high expectations. You have high expectations.
Paige Powers (08:24):
Yeah, for sure.
Brian Friend (08:26):
But really it’s like, you know, that’s her, that’s her first year. And if you think about it, you, because what she’s thinking is that 21st is like a 84th if you multiply by four for the fourth semi-finals. And so that’s like four times worse than I did on the quarter finals. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But really it’s an opportunity, I think, so she can look and say, why did I did do so well in quarter finals compared to semi-finals? Now I have my focus for the next 12
Paige Powers (08:46):
Months. Yep. For sure.
Sevan Matossian (08:48):
And the, and by the, by the high expectations, I mean, it’s, it’s a pretty, um, it’s insane to think that you’re, you’re gonna go from teen and then in one year or just two years go to individual mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But, but you, you’ve put that demand on yourself. I mean, don’t get me wrong, what were you gonna say, Brian? We’ve seen it
Brian Friend (09:04):
For the men, it’s insane because it hasn’t happened for the women. She can look at other women that have had similar finishes to her. Mallory O’Brien’s Best Finish as a teenager at the Crossing games was third. Now she had this similar situation happen where she missed a year because of Covid that she might have won, but it’s been done before. So it not, not an unrealistic expectation in the women’s field mm-hmm. <affirmative> compared to the
Sevan Matossian (09:23):
Men’s, but still freak of nature. Of course, ma Mall O’Brien’s not, didn’t come into the CrossFit games and take, uh, 39th place.
Brian Friend (09:32):
No.
Sevan Matossian (09:32):
Right. Yeah. So, so, so nuts. Um, yeah. But, but, but, but you, but you’re doing all sorts of unrealistic stuff. You’re al you’re only two years as, or three years as an individual, and you’re already just completely, if the videos are true that I watch, you’re completely entrenched in the, in the Mayhem Empire. Yes. Um, getting at it every single day with some of the, I mean, what you’ve put on yourself is absolutely nuts. Um, the, the caliber of people that you’re rolling with and hanging with.
Paige Powers (10:01):
Yeah. Yeah. I, I really do enjoy it though. I mean, like, whenever I first moved here, it was definitely, like, I just took ego beating day after day. Like, I just got absolutely crushed in training every single day. But it like pushed me to like, keep up in ways that I wasn’t pushing myself before. So like, I’ve been here for a year now and like to see my improvement from like last year when I first moved here to now is like pretty crazy. So I’m super grateful for it.
Sevan Matossian (10:36):
You think you picked up a little swagger in that year? Like you, you got a little more pep in your step?
Paige Powers (10:42):
Um, maybe, yeah. I think, um, like I was put around people that like made me like know that it’s okay to like show a little confidence here and there. Um, especially like people like, gee, he loves to perform and like, that’s where he’s in his element. So kind of just like taking little like tips and like watching him and stuff. So
Sevan Matossian (11:10):
It was interesting, I, I watched an interview when you were 16 years old and you seemed supremely confident. Then I watched a couple of interviews of you from a couple years ago, and not that you weren’t confident, but you were, uh, more shy. And then I watched a more recent interview with you, um, the Wolverine one, and you were back to the 16 year old version of yourself. That one was just like four months ago. I was like, oh, wow. She, and, and she went through like a confident 16 year old then kind of a humbling period, right? She got her first, you got your wings, you went from a strong caterpillar to kind of like a new awkward, uh, butterfly. And then now it’s like you’ve been flying with the big butterflies for a year, and you, I was like, wow. She got her swagger back. Yeah. She got her 16 year old swagger back.
Paige Powers (11:48):
Yeah. I think it was like a lot easier for me in the teenage division to like, have a ton of confidence because like, I made the CrossFit games within the first, like, I wasn’t even doing CrossFit for a year, and I made the CrossFit games. So,
Sevan Matossian (12:04):
Do you know this story, Brian? That story’s crazy. We’re gonna go to that. Sorry, go on Paige. Okay. <laugh>. That story’s crazy.
Paige Powers (12:10):
Um, but yeah, it was like, I mean, kind of just like having that expectation of like always making the games. Um, and then like whenever I did turn 18, I was like thrown out with the big girls. I was like, there was kind of this part of me that was like, oh, well, I’m just not good enough, especially getting 20, 21st cent granite games. But, um, I kind of decided to use that as fuel and like move down to Cookville and it’s, it’s been good ever since. So I feel like I’ve gained that confidence back of like, hey, I do, I do belong in this field.
Sevan Matossian (12:47):
Um, gymnastics is your first sport?
Paige Powers (12:49):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (12:50):
Yep. And how, how old?
Paige Powers (12:53):
Um, I did it basically until I could walk to 14 years old.
Sevan Matossian (12:58):
Okay. So, so, uh, 10 or 12 years of gymnastics. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> wa was your mom a gymnast or your dad a gymnast?
Paige Powers (13:05):
Nope. Neither of ’em were,
Sevan Matossian (13:07):
But they just started taking you to like the 18 month old class, like us crazy parents do as soon as you Yeah,
Paige Powers (13:13):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (13:13):
Yeah. Hey, when you do gymnastics that long, don’t you get to like the weird stages, like the part that that’s like where the eating disorders are and the coaches hit you and like they, the practices are eight hours long and like, it’s just the weird, the weird parents and weird kids. Like, now you’re in that kind of like,
Paige Powers (13:28):
Yeah, it did get like a bit crazy. The weird shit.
Sevan Matossian (13:32):
Yeah.
Paige Powers (13:32):
Whatever, like eyes towards the end of my gymnastics career. Yeah. Um, things definitely, like, I was constantly in the gym. If I wasn’t in school, I was doing gymnastics and, um, it wasn’t really, I didn’t think it was the healthiest environment for me, um, towards the end. Um, but you know, I’m, I’m glad that I’m out of that and it brought me to CrossFit. So
Sevan Matossian (14:00):
It’s, it’s a common theme on this show. The girl who’s in her 10th year and is like, whoa, shit. Started getting weird.
Paige Powers (14:06):
Yeah.
Brian Friend (14:06):
Well, you know, something, uh, maybe you’re aware of this, maybe not. Uh, but in the past year or so, there’s been some conversation about if it’s appropriate to talk about the bodies of the athletes that are competing. I feel like that also exists in gymnastics.
Paige Powers (14:21):
Yeah. Like,
Brian Friend (14:23):
For sure. And it’s a similar, it’s like your body is your product. Like you need to Yes. You need it to do that. And, um, you can certainly tell me I’m wrong, but I would imagine that relative to other, uh, girls that were doing gymnastics, that eventually you got probably to be bigger than some of them. And so you probably did well on certain things and had harder time on other implements.
Paige Powers (14:43):
Yeah, for sure. It was like, it was really crazy, especially like going throughout your teenage years, if you really like grew, if you had a growth spurt of like an inch, it would mess up like your whole bar routine or like your beam routine. Like you felt all wonky and weird for a period of time. So it was like, it was really crazy in those like final years that it was like doing gymnastics. There was so much change during it, and it definitely created a lot of difficulty for it.
Sevan Matossian (15:14):
I mean, even think of the dudes, um, you have to be absolutely the, the skinniest you can possibly be while still working on the rings. Like, how starved can I make myself and maintain all my shit
Brian Friend (15:26):
Everywhere other than the shoulders? You have to have massive shoulders.
Sevan Matossian (15:28):
Yeah. But, but I mean, you, but I mean, right. That, that’s the thing. It’s, it’s the nature of that sport. I’m, I’m saying nothing negative about it mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but you’re trying to move the body through these crazy positions and through the air, and it’s basically like, Hey, how skinny can I fucking get, but still be strong as an ox.
Paige Powers (15:44):
Yeah. And it’s also like, it’s pretty crazy because it’s like such a subjective sport where like other people are really like telling you like, oh, your point or your big toe is crooked. So like, I’m taking a 10th off. Like, and a lot of the times for like bars, like if you’re, I don’t know, just like with a different body types, like if you were kind of leaner and taller, like you’re, your lines looked prettier so you get a higher score. Right. Whereas like, I was kind of like shorter and stockier and I maybe didn’t look like pretty all the time. So it was like, I don’t know, it’s kind of, it’s,
Sevan Matossian (16:24):
It’s pretty judge number three isn’t attracted to you, so he docked you. Uh, I’m, I mean, she sure, but this thing, she’s, I’m not even, I’m not even talking shit about it. I’m just like, yeah, it’s just humans. It’s just people. But
Brian Friend (16:34):
This, this thing she’s talking about where the angle of your big toe or whatever, maybe that’s a minutia, but some, it’s just having immaculate control of your body in, in the mm-hmm. <affirmative> coaching development that I’ve done it, it’s called motor control. I think this is what one of the main reasons why gymnasts can translate over to CrossFits. So well, how many times have you seen someone in gym and say, okay, now reach back with your hips and someone, some people can do it, some people cannot. I think gymnasts in particular are very good at that because all of the cues from their coaches at some point are, okay, when you’re finishing this thing, make sure you do this extension with your elbow, not this, or with your finger or your toe or
Paige Powers (17:08):
Whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Everything’s like down to the last detail in gymnastics. So
Sevan Matossian (17:15):
We’re gonna, we’re gonna talk about that too, by the way. There’s a, um, I, I remember gymnasts coming in and there being, um, some difficulty in abandoning some of that composure and control for speed. But, but we’ll get to that. And I wanna talk about how you had to let maybe some of that go to get times. Are you comfortable talking about any of the weird stuff that happened? Like was it around food or just around just how many hours you were there? Was there anything in particular that like for, for parents out there, like, Hey, be attentive to this. This is too much for a kid, 10 years of this shit,
Paige Powers (17:47):
Um,
Sevan Matossian (17:48):
<laugh>, or, Hey, don’t be a sissy. Push your kid through.
Paige Powers (17:51):
Yeah. I guess it, it really depends on like the gym that you’re at. Um, but like, I, I’m not sure if you guys are familiar with like, any of the like Nassar stuff. Oh yeah. We have that athlete a documentary. Yeah,
Sevan Matossian (18:07):
That guy’s in, that’s the crazy doctor that was hurting the girls.
Paige Powers (18:10):
Yes. So
Sevan Matossian (18:11):
Yes, that was nuts.
Paige Powers (18:12):
I lived with him like an hour and a half from him, so I, like my coaches always sent me to him whenever I had any injuries and like, thankfully nothing ever happened to me, but it was like, I don’t know, just like that kind of like whole area in there. Like the coaches closer to Lansing, wherever he practiced out of, like, they, um, I mean, one of ’em like was, um, I don’t, I think he had like a warrant out for his arrest and then he ended up, um, killing himself. But because he knew he was in deep trouble, but
Sevan Matossian (18:49):
That guy killed himself. Na Nassar killed himself.
Paige Powers (18:52):
No, not Nassar, but one of the girls that was like how
Sevan Matossian (18:55):
Affiliated with him. Oh. Who was doing the same thing to the girls molesting the girls? Yes.
Paige Powers (18:59):
Yeah. Crazy. And so, yeah, I think there was like,
Sevan Matossian (19:02):
So there were warning signs.
Paige Powers (19:04):
Yeah. Yeah. And like,
Sevan Matossian (19:06):
Did you know he was a creep when you went to him?
Paige Powers (19:10):
Mm. I’d say like in the moment, no. Like, he definitely, I feel like now whenever I look at him and see pictures of him in jail, I’m like, yeah, you’re a creep. But obviously, like after knowing what happened, but like,
Sevan Matossian (19:26):
Whenever it’s a doctor, you’re supposed to trust him.
Paige Powers (19:27):
Right, exactly. And like, he, like, I don’t really wanna give him any credit because I absolutely hate what he did, obviously. Um, but he was super smart and like really good at what he did as far as like doctoring goes. Um, so it was like such a shame that he Larry wasted all of that talent for no reason to just end up in jail for the rest of his life. But I, like, I remember whenever like he first got arrested, my mom like, called me. I was like, what the heck? Like, it was before school, and she was like, Hey,
Sevan Matossian (20:04):
Must’ve scared the crap outta your parents. Must have scared the crap
Paige Powers (20:07):
Outta him. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And like, they were always in the room with me. Like they never left my sigh with, um, being
Sevan Matossian (20:16):
Oh, I love hearing this,
Paige Powers (20:17):
Honestly. Yeah. With like any doctor I ever went to. And so I, it, the scary thing to me is that like, now that the stories are coming out, like girls are saying that he, he would do stuff even with their parents in the room.
Sevan Matossian (20:34):
I heard those stories. Right? I heard the girl telling the story. My parents were right there.
Paige Powers (20:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Which is like crazy to me, but
Sevan Matossian (20:42):
Brazen, right? This guy’s a maniac.
Paige Powers (20:45):
Yeah. It’s, yeah. It’s very, very unfortunate, but,
Sevan Matossian (20:48):
And it shows you how easily people can be duped. It’s not like the parents were allowing it, they were just kind of awed by his doctor in his role too, right? Yeah. Oh, he must know he is the doctor.
Paige Powers (20:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Which is like crazy to me. Like, I mean, I guess like for my parents, they always taught me from a young age. They’re like, if you ever feel like uncomfortable by like a stranger or even somebody that you trust, like if they touch you in a weird spot, like immediately tell us because it’s not right. But like, I think people are just like so willing to like, take that risk in a sport if it’s gonna make them better and like just push it to the side. But it’s, it’s crazy weird stuff.
Sevan Matossian (21:32):
Yeah. Yeah. So my takeaway from that is you had great parents. Yes. Please, kids talk to your parents. Someone said to me the other day, uh, after we had, uh, a Garrett on here, um, someone sent me a DM and they said, Hey, all parents need to tell their kids you should never have a secret with another adult. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. There’s no secret that you sh if any adult ever wants to keep a secret with you, that’s the tell your parents right away. Yeah.
Paige Powers (21:57):
Hundred
Sevan Matossian (21:58):
Percent. There’s, there’s no one should be having, uh, uh, secrets with your kids. Yeah. Um, so the takeaway for me here is, is, um, that means you were in an extremely competitive gymnastics program. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, if you’re by, uh, y you know, Mr. Uh, uh, Mr. Olympic, uh, gross doctor. Yes. Right?
Paige Powers (22:16):
Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it was, it was super competitive, like Yeah. Especially in like, in and around my, um, area that I was like training in. Um, and it, it just, it definitely got to be like too much for me. Um, it was like way by my last season I was dry heaving, like over garbage bins before every event, like crying
Sevan Matossian (22:44):
Because of anx Anxiety. Anxiety, yeah.
Paige Powers (22:46):
Because
Sevan Matossian (22:47):
She saw Matt Fraser during I was gonna say, yeah. You sound like Matt Fraser. What’s wrong with that? <laugh>? Don’t be a sissy Paige.
Paige Powers (22:53):
Yeah. Yeah. It was, it got pretty bad. I was like going to see, um, like a sports psychologist literal, just to get me through my last season. And like I had, fortunately throughout my whole career, I never had any major injuries. Just like kind of small minor stuff and lots of aches and pains. And then just before my last season, I dislocated my knee like, um, fractured my femur bone, had a giant bone bruise and like, somehow it healed up within like three months. So I was still able to compete that season. And like, after my first competition, I kind of knew that like I was done with gymnastics and I told my parents and they’re like, you know, just like stick it out through the season and like, it’s probably not gonna be that bad. And um, like we just don’t want you to regret it if you don’t, if you just quit right now. Um, and that, that season was like, I mean, we were doing all that I could just to like get me through there, but I was like, before every event, just like dry heaving, like so anxious, so nervous. And even for like practices, I was like starting to like work myself up to like stomach gates and like, it was pretty crazy.
Sevan Matossian (24:10):
Hey, what’s the, what’s the feedback you have for parents out there that your, your parents are put in a tough spot? Cuz I get where they’re coming from. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they’re like, man, she’s put 10 years in mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, we, we, we want a supporter to do the right thing. Do. Do you think that they, do you think that they handled that right in hindsight? Yeah. Like, are you glad you had that experience of all that anxiety or do you wish that they would’ve let you off the hook?
Paige Powers (24:36):
Um, I
Sevan Matossian (24:37):
Do. And by the way, that takes strong parents. They didn’t like doing that. I promise you. They hated it. Yes. They
Paige Powers (24:41):
Hat hated it. Yeah. I still have conversations with them today about it. Um, like I think for my dad, especially, like, he was a competitive swim coach, so he, like, he gets the like mentality that you have to be in to be like a super competitive person in anything. And, um, like I think for him especially, he is like, he just didn’t want me to regret like, quitting and then maybe later in the season being like, why did I do that? I should have finished out or even like, wanting to go back to the sport. But like, I remember, um, like my mom asking me and she was like, Hey, like, you know, are you gonna have a problem with like, people asking you like, well what are you doing now that you’re done with gymnastics? And like, for a period of time there, it was like nothing.
(25:30):
I was like, I don’t really have anything lined up. Um, I had an idea of a couple things I wanted to do, but I was like, I, I was so like done with gymnastics at the point, I was like, I don’t even care if I’m like doing nothing right now. I just wanna be like out of the sport. Um, but I mean, they were super supportive of it and like also supportive of trying to find things for me to like fill that time gap because I mean, like I said earlier, it was really like school gymnastics and then go home, dinner, shower, homework and sleep. So there was like no wiggle room in my schedule to like a whole bunch of free time and they’re like, we have to get you in something because you’re like going crazy. So, um, that’s when we started like exploring swimming and diving for high school and, um, CrossFit.
Sevan Matossian (26:29):
I, I was just trying to think if there’s anything in my life that’s ever been like that. Like you did something that you were so committed to and then had to, and then decided to quit it. And it’s like, most people don’t even ever put themselves in that position. I mean, the only thing I I could think of is I had a job at CrossFit for 15 years, but I didn’t quit. I got fired and, and like, and like I was doing it for money, like you act mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you had a hobby that was so intense that you at, at, at 17, you’re like, nobbed. How old were you when you quit? 16. I was
Paige Powers (27:00):
14.
Sevan Matossian (27:01):
14, okay. 14. Yeah. Yeah. What a crazy already life experience to have a psychological mm-hmm. <affirmative> journey to have to already throw away one 14. Okay. I’m done with that identity. Yeah.
Brian Friend (27:12):
That’s a good lesson though is, is how critical the, the adults surrounded in that, in that environment are for her. You know, and I had this exact same experience with swimming, has a really good swimmer.
Sevan Matossian (27:23):
You did. You you
Brian Friend (27:24):
Did. I was a really good swimmer. It was taking most of my time. I was one of the best in the state. I’d been picked to select our region in a national competition, but my coach was negligent of her responsibilities and it pissed me off to the point that I ended up quitting as well.
Paige Powers (27:38):
Yeah, that’s, yeah, that’s like, I mean, my coaches were like, whenever I told them I was like, Hey, I think I’m gonna be done. My coaches were kind of like, well, you know, you can maybe just cut it down to like Tuesday, Thursday, Friday practice and like they would like hop on the phone with my parents and they’re like, your daughter can literally like go to college for free if she keeps student gymnastics. And there was just like blurry, nothing that was going to get me to go back into it. I was just done.
Sevan Matossian (28:12):
Yeah. Good on you. Hey. Um, another thing on there too, which is interesting is we kind of heard that story from Rich yesterday and we’ve heard this story from, um, which was kind of crazy to hear from Rich. Rich basically went away to college to play baseball, but, but wasn’t happy, wanted to come back home to his family and his girlfriend. We heard that story from Jason Hopper, went to Clemson with football just 18 years old, just wasn’t mature enough, just didn’t like that feeling of being away and came back and got God, thank God Rich did that.
Paige Powers (28:41):
Yeah. Right. For
Sevan Matossian (28:42):
Sure. Thank God baseball didn’t get ’em. Yeah.
Paige Powers (28:44):
<laugh>. Yeah, for sure. It’s crazy how like everything works out in hindsight,
Sevan Matossian (28:51):
How do you become, so this is the part that tripped me out. So with that you are able to parlay, um, I’d like to hear like that first CrossFit workout you do to the fact that like you, when you talk about it, you almost feel like, yeah, of course I’m going to the CrossFit games the first year I at, at 14.
Paige Powers (29:09):
So like, I would say the first month of doing CrossFit, I actually didn’t like it. Um, because it reminded me a lot of conditioning in gymnastics, which I liked. That was probably my least favorite part of gymnastics. Um, but like, I remember my first workout was, um, a salt bike and rower. And that was the only two things Wow. Was the class was doing like an all barbell workout. So the coach at the time was like, that’s not obviously something that somebody on their first day needs to hop in on. Um, so it was like, for the first month I was kind of just like, eh, like it’s okay. I’ll, I’ll do it because my mom paid for the membership. And um,
Sevan Matossian (29:55):
Why did she, why did she, um, put you in that? Was she CrossFit?
Paige Powers (29:59):
No.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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