Robertson twins win again: now at functional fitness
First judo, then freestyle wrestling and now functional fitness
Campbeltown twins Donna and Fiona Robertson have done it again. This year they represented the UK in the iF3 Masters World Championships in October, held in Logan, near Brisbane, Queensland.
They both qualified for the event by finishing first and second in the British Functional Fitness Championships back in August, in the Masters 50-54 age category.
Functional Fitness Racing is the international governing body for the sport, but is not a business and is not owned by any single person unlike the similar sport of CrossFit. In the future, it is hoped to be part of the Olympics.
The competition in Australia was held over three days, covering six tests of fitness – strength, body-weight skill, power, body-weight endurance, aerobic capacity and a mixed modal.
Points are given for placings in each event so even if you have a bad result, you can still make up for it. Every rep matters, every second counts.
The first two days were indoors in a sports centre and involved exercises including handstand walk, rope climbs, lunging, dead-lifts, handstand push-ups, barbell squat and press and pull-ups, to name a few. The third day was out in the 30-degree sunshine in a local park for Fiona’s favourite test of SkiErg and running, which she won to secure the third place overall finish. Donna won her favourite test of pull-ups and handstand walk and finished just a few points behind her sister in fourth place overall. Fiona told the Courier: ‘We both had an amazing, memorable experience and loved our time at the competition and then our wee well-earned rest on the beach at the Gold Coast afterwards.
‘Donna and I felt extremely proud to represent the UK at the event and hope to do the same next year. This is the third sport that we both have represented Great Britain at and we feel really lucky to do so.
‘I think we both felt very nervous about competing again, but in a good way. As the competition is over three days and six tests, you have the butterflies a lot of times.
‘We were just used to one day of competition in judo and freestyle wrestling but nerves are good, you need them, that’s what you have to keep telling yourself.’
And Fiona concluded: ‘If there is one person we have to both thank, it would be Fiona Irwin, who introduced us to the sport.
‘We thought our competing days were over but we are both loving the challenge and feel fitter than ever. Age is certainly no barrier.
‘We were both getting bored doing the same old routine in the gym but functional fitness and CrossFit have given us the motivation to keep training, not just for competition but for our health and we are loving it, so thanks Fiona.’