Each month we highlight one or more of our members in our member of the month feature. For the month of July we’ve selected Hudson DeGroote, Ian Stutts, and Kim Ruiz as our Members of the Month. These three outstanding individuals qualified and competed at the USA Swimming Team Trials. The event was held June 15-23 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was held at Lucas Oil Football Stadium – home of the Indianapolis Colts.
Hudson and Ian are members of the Marlins of Raleigh (MOR) swim club. Athletic Lab has provided the dryland training for MOR for the past 3 years. The team trains at Athletic Lab 3 times per week year round as part of our Team Training Services. Hudson competed in the 400m Individual Medley and took 41st out of over 80 competitors. Ian competed in the 200m Individual Medley and placed 68th out of over 90 competitors.
Kim Ruiz is a long time member of our Performance Fitness community. She placed 52nd out of almost 80 competitors in the 100m breaststroke. Kim has a tremendous story that saw her reach lifetime best form after 10 years away from the sport. She was the oldest first time qualifier for the prestigious event.
Athletic Lab is one of the premier fitness and performance training centers in the country. We have a vibrant and diverse community ranging from fitness enthusiasts looking to get in the best shape of their lives to elite professional athletes. You can read about previous members of the month here.
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Name: Kim Ruiz
What city were you born in? White Plains, New York
What do you do when you’re not training at Athletic Lab (occupation, hobbies, etc)? I work as a Sign Language Interpreter, and I love spending time with my husband and our Aussiedoodle, Lazlo. When I’m not at CrossFit, I can be found getting a healthy dose of H2O: Beach, pool, lake, swim meets. – Anything involving water!
What’s your favorite exercise? Least favorite? Favorite exercise: Pull-ups; Least favorite exercise: Weighted lunges. Lunges are hard enough without adding weight!
What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment since you started training? Qualifying for and swimming at Olympic Trials 2024 definitely takes the cake! The cherry on top was being the oldest first-time qualifier.
What motivates you in your training? I’m motivated by the challenge of beating my personal bests and knowing I have potential to move faster and be stronger.
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Name: Ian Stutts
What city were you born in? Raleigh, North Carolina
What do you do when you’re not training at Athletic Lab (occupation, hobbies, etc)? When I’m not training at Athletic Lab, I’m training in the pool. At home, I like to watch tv and sleep.
What’s your favorite exercise? Least favorite? My favorite exercise is bench press, and my least favorite exercise is step through lunges with a barbell.
What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment since you started training? My greatest accomplishment since I started lifting at Athletic Lab is committing to continue swimming in college at NC State.
What motivates you in your training? The thing that motivates me the most while training is knowing that every little thing I do makes me a little bit better.
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