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You’ve met the ladies, now meet the men! Introducing the burly boys of the Virtuosity Competition Team!

First, a quick overview of the VCT:

What is the Virtuosity Competition Team? The VCT is a group of the strongest athletes in the CFV community. These athletes regularly represent CFV at local, regional, and national CrossFit competitions.

Can I watch the VCT throw down? The VCT will be heading to the 2014 CrossFit Games Northeast Regionals competition this weekend (!) May 30th-June 1st.  They would love to have you come and cheer them on!

Can I join the VCT? Participation is by invitation only, but everyone is up for consideration — keep kicking ass in class and you’ll earn a spot!

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Name: Paul Delanoy
Age: 31
Occupation: Police Officer (NYPD)

How long have you been training with the CFV team? Approximately 2 years.


Why did you choose to compete on the team as opposed to as an individual? Team is a lot more fun. CrossFit is supposed to be fun. A lot of people lose sight of that when they train competitively.

Do you have any individual goals for this year’s Games season? If so, what are they?  I want to contribute to this team the best I can and make sure that we are making noise up at the Northeast Regionals.

What advice do you have for athletes that want to compete in CrossFit? Have fun. If you are not having fun then why do it? The CrossFit craze has grown over the last few years and is only getting bigger, if you are a new athlete and maybe feel like you are intimidated by it, don’t be!

Any other thoughts or comments on why the competition team is awesome? All the athletes on this competition team are awesome people and I am very fortunate to be training next to them. We are getting better every day! This team will be doing big things in competitive CrossFit in the future! That’s a promise.

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Name: Ariel Fernandez
Age: 25
Occupation: Coach

How long have you been training with the CFV team? About 18 months.

Why did you choose to compete on the team as opposed to as an individual? We agreed a long time ago that we were going to compete as a team regardless of whether we qualified as individuals. We’re pretty good individuals, but I feel like overall we’ll have a better chance of placing high as a team.

Do you have any individual goals for this year’s Games season? Not to suck! No, I’m kidding. Really just performing the best I can. To get the team as far into the top 10 as possible. I can see us going into the final heat (top 10) at Regionals and I want to do as much as I can to get us there.

What are you looking forward to most at Regionals? Having fun! I know we’ve put a lot of work into it. Sometimes we forget that we do this to enjoy ourselves, and so I just really want to relax and do the best I can, be happy with that, and really enjoy the experience.

What’s the weirdest thing you’re doing to prepare for Regionals? I did build a little handstand mat against my bedroom wall so that I can practice any time I go into the room.

What advice do you have for athletes that want to compete in CrossFit? Come in every day and be able to challenge yourself. Sometimes we think too much about scaling, or come in and just walk through what’s on the board. Come in with a game plan and push yourself a bit further every time. That’s the goal — just get better and better every day.

Any other thoughts or comments on why the competition team is awesome? We’re a crazy bunch of kids — each person brings a unique personality. Hanging around the team is awesome, it’s great training with them.

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Name: Gregg Martino
Age: 25
Occupation: Coach

How long have you been training with the CFV team? How long have I been here? 5 years?

Why did you choose to compete on the team as opposed to as an individual? I chose to go team because it doesn’t hurt quite as much and I’m not good enough at working out to do individual. Team is retaining old school CrossFit roots, as opposed to individual which is more professional athletes at this point.

Do you have any individual goals for this year’s Games season? I came in with no goals, but our scores for Regionals are looking very competitive, so I’d like to see us in the final heat of teams (top 10) starting day 2 and day 3.

What are you looking forward to most at Regionals? I’m looking forward to seeing how we stack up against the rest of the Region. As I said, right now our scores are looking very competitive in every Regional that’s gone so far, so I’d like to see where exactly we stand.

What’s the weirdest thing you’re doing to prepare for Regionals? It’s a little weird for me because I have to do most of my workouts on the road, and communicate via e-mail with the rest of the team.

What advice do you have for athletes that want to compete in CrossFit? Make sure you choose your parents well to get good genetics, and have several hours you can dedicate to training each day. Kidding. Challenge yourself to be better every day. If you’re in between reps and you’re not sure, do that extra rep. Put in the extra 5 minutes every day to work on your skills.

Any other thoughts or comments on why the competition team is awesome? I think the team is awesome because this specific group has been together for about 2 years now. Watching each of us grow and improve is pretty cool and we get to share in each other’s successes and failures. Also the ladies of the team got tattoos, and Paul and I are looking forward to forcing Ariel to get one!