Clark State Community College Associate Professor Dana Matt has been selected for a second time to represent USA Functional Fitness at the Masters World Championships in Portugal.
Matt, who has been teaching in the Physical Therapist Assistant program at Clark State for more than 11 years, said 36 countries have organized “functional fitness federations” with the goal to get CrossFit style competition into the Olympics in 2028. The International Functional Fitness Federation (IF3) is the worldwide governing body.
Matt competed in the IF3 World Championships in Queensland, Australia, in 2019 where she placed 2nd. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 IF3 Masters World Championship has been postponed to 2021.
“It is still somewhat unreal to me that I get to represent the USA. It's a dream come true,” said Matt. “Last year, I said it was a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity. The ability to do it twice, is amazing. I am looking forward to meeting and developing relationships with other members of the USAFF National Team.”
To be selected for the USAFF National Team, Matt completed an online qualifier of four different tests which were recorded for verification of score. She placed 1st in her age group in the online qualifier, which secured her place for the 2020 IF3 Masters World Championships.
Although social distancing has recently become the “new norm” in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Matt is no stranger to online event qualifiers. “I have done many online qualifiers in the last few years,” she said. “A lot of events start with an online qualifier, and the best athletes move forward to the next stage. Online qualifiers are a nice opportunity to compete in the comfort of your typical environment. And, when they lead to a bigger event, it helps to have a high-quality competition.”
As a Clark State professor, Matt not only had to modify her teaching methods in order to comply with the State of Ohio’s guidelines for public health; but her CrossFit training program, as well.
“For training, I am very blessed to have a home gym,” she said. “Although I do prefer to train at Champion City CrossFit with my coach, training partner and ‘CrossFit family,’ I was able to maintain my training at home.”
Matt and her husband also built an outdoor rig with pull up bars, rings, a climbing rope, a wall ball station, and more, “Training at home was a very different experience, but it taught me a lot about myself.”
Matt said balancing teaching and training was actually easier with modified operations because she could do everything from home. Matt’s physical therapy classes utilized Lifesize classrooms to deliver content and students received free access to PhysioU.
The Masters World Championships will include six tests of the individual medley, spread out over three days and is divided into age groups.
Following her experience in with the IF3 competition in Australia, Matt volunteered to be a staff member of the USAFF. “My role has now developed into the director of masters athletics,” she said. “This gives me the opportunity to help other masters athletes.”