The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH just a day left before she joins the Bahamas team going to the Central America and Caribbean Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships on Thursday, Dawnita Fry said she’s excited and ready to make the trip to compete in the Dominican Republic this weekend.

“I’m looking good. l have leaned out nicely,” she said. “My coach is pleased with my progress. She switched up my diet and cardio and my body resounded well to it. I am gonna be a lot harder for CAC with even more conditioning. I am excited with my progress.”

Fry, who moved to Orlando, Florida, in April where she has been training with Team Bombshell under the supervision of coach Gennifer Strobo, an IFBB professional who will be competing in the Figure division of Mr Olympia next week, will fly directly from Florida to the Dominican Republic.

There she intends to join up with the rest of the 15-member team that will be managed by Dereck Bullard, the first vice president of the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation. She noted that she has been in constant contact with federation president Danny Sumner as well.

This year, Fry said she’s more enthused about the championship, considering that the winners in the various categories will get a chance to compete for a pro card.

“I am just hoping to do my best because the fact of the matter is every competitor that steps on that stage is just as hungry if not hungrier than you,” she said. “I am giving it my all. A pro card would be a dream come true which I have been working on for years but if it doesn’t happen I am proud of the package I am bringing to the stage.”

Fry, a former teacher turned physical fitness instructor, said she has worked hard on rounding out her shoulders and flaring her quads for a better V-taper and she also worked on the width and thickness in her back area and her calf.

“This is my second CAC and I know the competition is gonna be fierce,” said Fry, who went on to say: “Everyone comes to win. The athletes are impressive. But Team Bahamas is also very impressive this year.”

As one of the top performers last year, Fry said she knows that it’s going to be tough this year, but she’s up to the challenge.

“I feel some degree of pressure to deliver. But I can only do what my body allows me to do,” she said. “I am taking a good package and a truck load of positive energy so I am not overthinking the process. I am just gonna step on stage and present what I have been working so hard on.”

In preparation for the CAC, Fry has had a rather productive year. She began in March at the Arnold’s Classic where she finished ninth, which was her proudest moment. She followed that in May in Panama City where she won her Figure Class.

Fry returned home in July to compete at the federation’s national championships and was the winner of the overall fitness title.

Fry, a fifth place finisher at her initial CAC Championships last year, was scheduled to compete in another show in Atlanta in August, but she opted out to focus on her trip this year to the CAC.

“Since CAC last year, I know I was moving so I had to get a coach on this end and that’s when I found Team Bombshell,” she said. “They completely changed my diet and cardio programme and it improved my physique in so many positive ways. Before Audley Storr helped me with my weight training and I did my diet and cardio. I was guessing with my diet and came in on the small side but now I have help with the plans and I see lots of improvements.”

As she gets set to leave, Fry expressed her thanks to all her Facebook fans who have been encouraging and supporting her throughout her preparation. “It wasn’t easy but nothing that’s worth it is easy,” she said.