02 May 2013
Sean Irwin
At the age of 18, Sean is CrossFit Vancouver’s youngest apprentice.
He found CrossFit through the Take a Hike Program, a program aimed to help inner city kids. Charlie coached Sean for about a year. “He was so keen. He was coachable and he really listened. He just loved CrossFit,” said Charlie of his young apprentice.
After proving himself to Palmer over and over, Palmer decided to take Sean on as an apprentice coach last year. Today, Sean helps Charlie with the same youth program (Take a Hike) that led Sean to discover CrossFit.
02 May 2013
Arthur ‘Turbo Toad’ Tsang
Arthur, who works as an apprentice under T-Bear, is a born salesman. He shows up ready to go every day, ready to give energy, ready to bring love, ready to sell.
He found CrossFit through his good friend, long-time CrossFitter at CrossFit Vancouver, Bryce Fraser. Bryce promised Arthur CrossFit would help him get laid, which it did.
Originally, getting laid was Arthur’s CrossFit goal, but years later, here he is hooked on more than just finding sexual gratification. “Patty told me for a year and a half before I began CrossFit that it would change my life,” Arthur said. And it has.
“We built an incredible friendship in a short period of time…I don’t know anyone who has received as much love as I have received in my life,” Arthur added. “It’s like another family here, and I consider many of the people in this community to be my brothers and sisters.”
As a coach, Arthur just loves helping others become better athletes. “A lot of times, the common mistakes are the ones I have lived through, and so I can get people to relate to my struggles and in the end show them that they can overcome adversities and struggles and make it work,” he said.
02 May 2013
Reto Corfu
Reto is a long-time CrossFitter and Apprentice Coach at CrossFit Vancouver. He spends his days working as an engineer and his evenings working out and helping coach at CrossFit Vancouver.
CrossFit truly is a hobby for Corfu, who is also a competitive sailor. “The first workout I saw featured 100 pull-ups; this scared the shit out of me and resulted in my almost immediate addiction to the lifestyle,” Reto said.
“I turned 30 and every time I went skiing I was sore for days afterward. My lame program from Men’s Health – 5 km jogs and hot yoga – was not helping. I figured it was near time to hang up the skates, hit the couch and accept my inevitable journey down the long and frightening road to decrepitude,” he said of his life before CrossFit. Now with CrossFit, he adds: “Now I play harder than I did when I was 23.”
Reto as a coach is calming and patient. He might even seem too calming, almost boring sometimes. But when you get to know him, he has a lot of love to give, and he’s even kind of funny. He jokes, “I love CrossFit Vancouver’s unwavering commitment to the belief that redheads are a genetically superior species.”
02 May 2013
Richie P
Richie is one of Charlie’s late night apprentices, who has been coaching since the spring of 2012.
Quiet and unassuming at first glance, if you talk to him you’ll quickly realize he’s very intelligent and incredibly knowledgeable about CrossFit.
Richie’s goal isn’t to be a full-time coach at CrossFit Vancouver. He’s super busy with his engineering job however, he continues to apprentice because he just loves being around the place. “He’s always willing to help out. He’s just such a good guy to have around. He just loves being here,” said Charlie about his apprentice.
02 May 2013
Audrey ‘Squad’ Tannant
Audrey is Patty’s saintly wife. After falling in love in six days back in 2011, the two were engaged within six months. A year later, in the fall of 2012, Audrey began her apprenticeship in the early mornings under Andy.
On top of coaching, Audrey is involved in corporate sales and business development, as well as single-handedly developing our not-for-profit organization in honour of Lt. Andrew ‘Nutts’ Nuttall, our beloved former coach, who lost his life fighting for our country in Afghanistan.
A former real estate agent, Audrey is one of those people you meet that you can’t possibly say anything bad about. But don’t mistake this for being a push-over. She has an uncanny ability to simultaneously be the sweetest and the feistiest person you’ll ever meet.
Audrey is also a professional trumpet player, who works part-time with the symphony.
02 May 2013
Rob ‘Lemonade’ Orford
Rob is an apprentice coach under T-Bear. Always smiling, Rob brings a tremendous amount of energy whenever he’s in the room.
Like many of CrossFit Vancouver’s apprentice coaches, Rob was a long-time member before he began his apprenticeship in 2012.
He is also known for making the best vodka-lemonade in the city, a talent he hones at every one of the school’s social events, when he sets up his bar and starts mixing his delicious drinks; hence his nickname ‘Lemonade Rob.’