Ryan O’Dowling – Coach
My love for sport was initially cultivated through swimming. I competed at provincial and national level while trying my hand at more sports than I could shake a stick at. My search for the right one ended in 2008 when in Australia I came across a gym called Southern Crossfit. Here I trained with two of my brothers, both avid crossfitters, and was drawn in by the die hard ethos that I found broke me down to build me back up better, fitter and stronger. I can back to Ireland with a renewed vigor and love for all things fitness. Back then Ireland was yet to be hit by the worldwide phenomenon that Crossfit has become so I bided my time until the gym I had been waiting for opened, CrossFit Return! And the rest is history. My main goal at CFR is to foster an atmosphere of community and progress by showing all our members why I came to love this sport so much in the first place.
Ide Healy – Intern
Ide began gymnastics at the young age of 5 and competed in both Tumbling and Sports Acrobatics. She represented Ireland in Sports Acrobatics on three occasions and traveled to the European Sports Acrobatics Championships in Portugal in 2009 as a coach. After retiring from competitive acrobatics her CrossFit career began in November 2015 at CFR. She signed up for the intro class, did her elements and was instantly hooked! Since then she has moved onto CFR’s internship programme and is currently learning and refining her skills everyday. Having coached gymnastics for years, she always got great enjoyment helping people learn new skills and improve their fitness. Her aim at CFR is the same.
“I want to help members reach their goals and surpass their expectations, just like what CrossFit has done for me. I’ve lots to learn from the great coaches in CFR and I’m hoping to do my CrossFit Level 1 certificate in the next few months to improve my knowledge further in the hope that I’ll be as good a coach as them some day!”
Chris Kenefick – Coach
Chris comes from a rugby background. He was also involved in Munster and Ireland school boys, U19 and U21 setups. In late 2008 he moved to Brisbane, Australia to begin his career in engineering. It was there in September 2009 that he discovered CrossFit and his whole approach to fitness changed. His love for the sport of CrossFit was born and he has never looked back. Since then he has dedicated himself to expanding his knowledge of CrossFit, strength and conditioning. While in Australia he interned at CrossFit St Kilda and at CrossFit Noosa where he gained valuable experience in coaching and instructing. A big fan of CrossFit’s competitions, he also competed in numerous events during his time down under. In April 2012 he, along with his sister Lucy, packed in life in Oz and ventured back to Ireland to open CrossFit Return. His goal is to provide the best coaching to the members of CrossFit Return to maximise their potential as athletes.