Introducing Nadia Simialis: America’s First Female Collegiate Functional Fitness Champion

Credit: @usfunctionfitness on Instagram

Last week, 18-year-old Nadia Simialis of Wheeling University in West Virginia became the first female athlete in the United States to win the U.S. Functional Fitness Collegiate National Championship.

2023 was Nadia’s first season competing as an individual in the CrossFit Games season, where she reached the quarterfinal level. After her productive offseason, she’s aiming to reach the semifinals in 2024.

Since many in the community are still unfamiliar with Simialis and the rest of the collegiate CrossFit scene, we spoke to her to get some insight into the life of a national champion athlete.

MCU: What was the National Collegiate Championship like? How similar was it compared to CrossFit sanctioned events?

Nadia Simialis: Very organized and very well run! There was also a wide variety of programming options.

I’d say they’re very similar, but the main difference is that I was testing a new medley format, so instead of doing all five workouts over again, I spent about an hour with a 10-minute break between each. This is what I did in half. One or two days like any other competition.

MCU: How does it feel to be the first-ever Collegiate Women’s Functional Fitness Champion?

NS: I feel great. I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate in my first university championship. We are confident that the University Championship will continue to grow and open up even more opportunities for those interested in competing.

MCU: What does weekly training at Wheeling University look like for you and the other athletes? Do you guys write your own programming or follow a program? Does everyone have an individual coach? ? etc.

NS: I’m the only athlete from Wheeling University who doesn’t actually train at all on or with the university.

I have a local coach, Zach King, who writes my program.

MCU: In your opinion, what modality do you think most athletes lack? Strengthening, conditioning, or gymnastics?

NS: I think most athletes lack gymnastics and strength. The reason is that these two elements take a long time to develop and master the technique.

MCU: Since you are no longer in the Teen Division, what are your immediate plans for the 2024 season?

NS: I don’t know exactly. It’s a little hard to decide what exactly I want to do with my CrossFit journey, but I would be very, very happy if I could make it to the semi-finals.

MCU: The women’s division of the CrossFit Games hasn’t had a champion from the United States for many years. Do you think women entering U.S. university programs like yours have a strong chance of making a strong run for the podium in the coming years, or are the programs still relatively new and will take time to develop? Is not it?

NS: Not many universities offer things like CrossFit or Functional Fitness clubs, so it definitely takes time.

MCU: How difficult is it to balance training and studying? Specifically, how much time can you dedicate to training?

NS: Sometimes it can be difficult to balance schoolwork and training. Especially this semester, my classes are during the day, so I usually have to train in the morning, and if I haven’t done everything in the morning, I have to: Incorporate short sessions during or after class.

However, since I am a new student, I often have plenty of time, so my workload is not that heavy.

Now I usually train for 2-3 hours, and in the summer I train for 2-4 and sometimes 5 hours for a match.

MCU: Do you hope CrossFit becomes a full-time job or just a college sport?

Nadia Simialis: Like I said, I don’t know exactly what I want to do with my CrossFit journey, but I do know that I don’t want it to be a full-time job, but depending on my situation, I’ll probably still pursue it. The same goes for after college.

MCU: When did you first start CrossFit? How did you get involved in CrossFit in the first place?

NS: I started CrossFit in 2019. I used to do gymnastics, but after I stopped, I was looking for other ways to stay active.

MCU: What are your current 1RM maxes for Olympic lifts and what are your short-term goals for them?

NS: Snatch: 165 lbs. Clean & Jerk: 200 lbs. Perhaps my weakness now is strength. He has always been a small athlete, but he has definitely improved a lot over the last few years. I constantly strive to become stronger so that my strength no longer holds me back.

MCU: What would you like the community to know about you?

NS: It’s not necessarily about me, but I want the community to know that there are opportunities to compete in fitness outside of CrossFit and the CrossFit Games.

And there may be many opportunities in other avenues, such as functional fitness. For example, if I hadn’t helped him participate in IF3, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to travel to other countries like Sweden, Mexico, and Norway.