Whanganui’s Dante Karangaroa is officially New Zealand’s fittest CrossFit man

Dante Karangaroa recently won the New Zealand CrossFit Nationals and has just returned from competing in the Down Under CrossFit Champs in Sydney. Photo / Crispy Dudes.

Six years ago, Dante Karangaroa was studying at Cullinane College and dreaming of earning the title of New Zealand’s fittest man.

Now, at this year’s New Zealand CrossFit Nationals, he’s done exactly that.

He didn’t get much time to enjoy his win though, as after nationals he travelled straight to the Down Under CrossFit Champs in Sydney.

The gruelling two-day event included a scorching beach run in 28-31C heat. Karangaroa placed fifth overall in the competition — amongst 30 of the fittest men in the Oceania region.

His time of 1:17 for 30 clean-and-jerks with a 62kg barbell was the fastest time in Oceania, an exercise known by cross-fitters as the “Grace” benchmark workout.

The high place he earned in the competition was unexpected: “It was pretty big. I still haven’t even processed it myself, it’s been pretty surreal.”

As national champ, Karangaroa gets more sponsorship options, $2000 in cash and greater recognition from the CrossFit community.

But the road to becoming a high-achieving CrossFit athlete in New Zealand is not easy.

He does full-time CrossFit coaching for classes at AwaNui CrossFit and Primal Gym. Whereas athletes overseas can to earn enough money from sponsorships to focus only on training full-time.

Training six days a week, for six to eight hours each day, takes up all of Karangaroa’s time. On rest days he still has to attend physiotherapy and sauna sessions, and on the weekends he travels to Palmerston North to see his nutritionist and coach.

“It’s more passion-driven, you can’t really be in it for money, you have to actually want to do well if you want to succeed in the sport.”

The hardest part of the sport was balancing finances and full-time training, as that meant giving up spending time with family.

Karangaroa‘s partner, Jayde Hawkes, said CrossFit was a whole lifestyle: “He talks to his coach more than me.”

But as a national competitor herself, Hawkes understands the sacrifices involved with the sport.

“If you want to do well in CrossFit you give everything to do it, like it’s your job.”

CrossFit competitions stretch over several days and are a wide range of fitness tests — it can be anything, from swimming to gymnastics, deadlifts, a 10km run or handstand walks.

Competitors won’t find out what events they’re doing until on the day.

Karangaroa’s thirst for competing hasn’t been satisfied by becoming New Zealand’s fittest man.

“I want to see myself go to the top.”

Next, he will be aiming to qualify for the CrossFit Open to reach the semifinals in Australia.

His ultimate goal is to get to the CrossFit Games in America and compete for the title of Fittest on Earth.

For now, he’s taking a short break to rest his body before returning to the grind — his coach has even banned him from the gym to get his recovery time.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.