“We want Deep River Fit to be that third place, where you get something more out of it than you would at home or work. This is a place where you fill your cup up.”
— JAMES LANCASTER, OWNER
James is a Memphis native who grew up with sports. His dream was to play in the NFL, but those dreams were smashed to pieces when he tore his ACL while playing football in the AFL. For essentially three years, he couldn’t run or jump. In between the three knee surgeries he would eventually have, his aunt introduced him to CrossFit.
Additionally, a friend invited him to come watch the CrossFit Games live in 2013, which hooked him for good. Over the next two years, he spent his time holed up in bed watching behind-the-scenes videos of the CrossFit Games, until he was finally cleared at the end of 2015 to exercise.
The next year, Lancaster qualified for his first Regional CrossFit Games, the only representative to compete from the region. He placed 24th that year, and it was just the beginning. The following year, he returned to finish 14th at the regional CrossFit Games.
Katelyn is another Memphis native. She grew up loving sports but was never very competitive in any until high school bowling. She still jokes that it’s the only sport you can eat a whole pizza while you practice.
She found out about CrossFit from some out of town friends she met on mission trips in high school. Unfortunately with her busy bowling schedule she didn’t join a gym until her freshman year of college. A friend in her sorority got her into a free 6 week fundamentals class and she was hooked after the first night. In October of 2015 she got her CrossFit Level 1 and has been coaching since May 2016. She got her CrossFit Level 2 in September of 2017.
Katelyn is in physical therapy school at UTHSC and joined the Army National Guard. She has been at Deep River Fit since August 2019. If she’s not studying, coaching, or working out, she’s enjoying coffee, cycling with the Victory Bicycle crew, or just chilling with her friends and family.
