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Chester County Press

McGovern to compete at regional CrossFit event in June

04/24/2018 01:18PM ● By Richard Gaw
By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

For five consecutive weeks in February and March, Andrew McGovern, the co-owner of the CrossFit Wheelhouse in Avondale, was one of 400,000 people around the world who competed in the first rung of the CrossFit Games Open, a test of endurance, strength and speed.

He competed in events included a 20-minute workout involving rowing on a machine, a clean-and-jerk event with a dumbbell, and a gymnastic event called “Toes to Bar,” and after all of the times and tabulations were calculated, McGovern finished 279th in the world and 15th out of 13,000 competitors in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.

McGovern's strong finish has qualified him to participate in the next phase of he CrossFit games, which will take place from June 1-3 in West Palm Beach, Fl. There, he will be one of 40 athletes to compete against the top 20 entrants from the Southern Region and the Mid-Atlantic region, respectively, for the right to go to the CrossFit Games in Madison, Wis. in August.

“I've been training for this since last year, because I didn't qualify for the regional event in 2017,” said McGovern, who has co-owned the CrossFit Wheelhouse with business partner and friend Matt Miller since 2013. “I was 47th in the region, and I was in great shape, but I wasn't as healthy as I should have been.”

He began to work with trainer and nutritionist Jud Dean, who assigned his client a strict eating plan.

“Working out in the gym is the fun part, but the challenging part is doing the right things outside of the gym,” McGovern said. “You're either moving yourself closer to your goals or further away from your goals, with every decision you make. If you're at a party and there's a cake on one end of the table and a bowl of salad on the other, you have to remind yourself of your goals. Every decision you make affects your future.

Although McGovern credits Dean and his fiancee Brittani Scalia for their encouragement, he reserves the biggest praise for the people he sees come into the facility he co-owns.

“Coaching classes gives me the opportunity to see a lot of people achieve their goals, and that has inspired me to work harder,” McGovern said. “I see people getting stronger every day here -- doctors, plumbers, school teachers, lawyers – and I am way more proud of their accomplishments, through proper diet, exercise and commitment, than I am of my own.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].