Anna Tunnicliffe

  • Athlete Profile
  • Nickname : -
  • Current Affiliate : CrossFit Mt. Lebanon
  • From : Pittsburgh, PA
  • Region : Mid Atlantic
  • Year Started : 2011
  • Weight : 145
  • Height : 5'6"
  • Age : 35
Top Achievements
2014 - CrossFit Games
2013 - Crossfit Games - 9th
2013, 2014 - Regionals
2014 - Beast of the East - 1st
2014 - East Coast Championships - 5th Place
Bio
I am 32 years old, born and raised in the UK, i moved to America when i was 12. I participated in many sports growing up, starting out with Sailing, and swimming and then venturing into to track and cross country in high school, where my senior year, I was district champion in the 800m. After HS i went to Old dominion University to study, but also because they had a great Sailing Team. After my freshman year when most of the top sailors had graduated, sailing on a team that was ranked #1 both in women's and co-ed college rankings, I started to sail more and more, and from my second semester through the end of my college career i sailed every weekend during the seasons. I earned 4 All-American certificates, won 4 college national titles, and was awarded Female College sailor of the year in 2005.
Post college, i went straight into Olympic sailing, which meant spending a lot of time in Europe and traveling the world. I slowly rose through the ranks to #1 Worldwide and carried that momentum into the 2008 Olympic Games where i won a Gold Medal in the Women's One Person Dinghy Class. I changed boats after the 2008 Olympics and teamed up with two other girls, Molly and Debbie, where again we rose through the ranks to where we held the #1 spot for almost two years. we qualified for the 2012 Olympics and were knocked out of the quarterfinals by our training partners and lost a chance to medal.
I was awarded 2009 and 2011 World Sailor of the Year, and 2008-20011 US Yachtswoman of the Year. At the end of 2011 I found CrossFit and it changed my life! I initially started it as a way to get in better shape and then from there learned that you could compete and set the goal to qualify for the 2013 Games. I qualified and had a great week finishing 9th overall. In 2014, I qualified again, and came out of the blocks great with a win in the first event, and then suffered an injury meters away from the finish line in event 3, causing me to finish that event 2nd and not really being able to walk for the rest of the weekend. I finished a disappointing 22nd...but i plan to recover and comeback stronger than ever.

How I Train
I train with my coach, who also is my Boyfriend. His name is Brad Tobias, and has this amazing ability to make some extremely painful WODs, which although feel horrific at the time, feel great when they are done. We have an amazing relationship and understanding that what happens at the box stays at the box and what happens at home stays at home...and it works.
we break the year into smaller cycles and have a strength phase where we focus on getting as strong as possible. a transition phase and then competition phase. the year starts in august and ends in july. the winter is the bulking months!! :) then as the opens begin, we start the transition so that by regionals we are doing 2 met cons a day with strength too about 3 times a week. I don't always schedule days off, i take off when I'm given permission too. We listen to how my body is feeling and what the whole idea behind the week is. I generally leave it up to the boss and do as i'm told.
Videos