Tawn Gurnsey

I’ve been a gymnast for as long as I can remember. I started gymnastics at the age of 5 and retired when I graduated from Baylor University in 2022. My athletics career was filled with many achievements while also being riddled with injuries. Individually, I competed at the national level and earned an athletic scholarship to continue my athletic career at Baylor University. My team and I won three National Championships (only missing the fourth due to our season being cut short in 2020). I believe everything happens for a reason, so I try to not dwell on the injuries or the low moments but rather use them as motivation to achieve my goals. As I look back on my athletic career, I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish with so many people supporting my dreams.

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As many people know, gymnastics is not the most inviting and warm sport, especially when performed at a high level. As I got older and hit puberty, my body started to change and my coaches started to treat me differently. They fed me false nutritional information, pushed my body beyond its physical limits, and emotionally scarred me for life. For a while, I just took it. I trusted they knew better than I did and wanted me to succeed. By the time I was a junior in high school, I was barely eating and working out/practicing for 6 hours per day, 6 days per week. My wake-up call was when I fell asleep driving and crashed my car. I knew I was in a bad place and had asked for a sign from the universe a week prior. When I crashed my car, I knew I had enough and needed to take my life and my happiness into my own hands. I started seeing food as fuel and trusted myself as the pilot of my own life rather than taking the back seat. I started regaining my health and love for exercise rather than seeing it as a punishment. When I got to college, I was surrounded by a team of incredibly strong, confident, muscular, and healthy women. I remember wanting to be just like them. When I started college, I hated the person who I was. Throughout my four years at Baylor University on the Acrobatics and Tumbling team, I worked every day to not only be the best athlete I could be but also the best human being I could be. I wanted to be someone I was proud of being. By the time I graduated, the girl who started college four years prior was unrecognizable, and I can only give credit to the incredible women who surrounded me and encouraged me every single day!

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My parents have owned gyms in Florida my whole life, so I’ve grown up surrounded by the fitness community. We found CrossFit in 2013 and fell in love with it! I love that each day is different, that you create genuine connections within the community, and that everyone can do it no matter their ability level! The best days of the week are when I get to see my CrossFit family and help them achieve new goals. I love sharing my gymnastics background and knowledge to help you achieve some of the more complex movements in CrossFit with drills, timelines, and lots of encouragement! A positive environment breeds success!

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