his year’s Fitness Industry Awards
ceremony saw Australian Fitness
Network posthumously award the
Inspiration Award to Mark Rimell. Here’s why.
In 1970, Mark emigrated with his parents
and sister from England to a dairy farm
on the outskirts of Albany in WA. Here, he
attended Christian Brothers College where
he quickly discovered that it was in the great
outdoors and while playing sports at which
he truly excelled.
He would go on to dominate the squash
court, winning a Junior Club Championship
in his first year playing and then two
consecutive Open Club championships by
the age of 20, at which point he moved to
Sydney to pursue a career in competitive
squash. Before long, his focus moved
to other athletic endeavours, and he
soon found himself teaching ‘aerobics’ –
something that would prove to be the start
of a lifelong passion.
Mark’s foray into competitive aerobics
in the early 1990s – an era when legends
such as Michelle Dean and Kylie Gates were
competing – saw him narrowly miss out on
a place due to his failure to wear a G-string
on stage, a quality that was deemed by the
judging panel to be essential for his future
success...! Another quality he needed to
develop was the ability to perform the
Chinese splits. He duly set about tying
ropes to his ankles, while using the legs of
couches as pulleys to stretch his legs out
to a full split… During the next four years,
he pushed his body to the limit and at his
peak could perform 10 one-arm push ups
with 30kg on his back. This hard work paid
off in 1994 when he won the State Aerobic
Championships.
Harnessing his discipline and incredible
work ethic, Mark later went on to compete in
natural bodybuilding, placing fifth in his first
competition.
Given how much Mark loved to use his
body, and how much he loved to give, it’s
not surprising that he discovered remedial
massage. More than discover it, in fact, he
changed his main career from motor mechanic
to masseur. He was truly gifted at healing
people and pursued this passion in China and
then through teaching massage in Thailand.
Like many in our industry, Mark’s
professional roles were many and varied, and
T
His energy was contagious – he was the most
positive person everyone ever met.
in addition to being a masseur, he continued instructing numerous
group exercise classes, both freestyle and pre-choreographed,
and was also a personal trainer. Mark was notable not only for his
abilities, but also for his loyalty: he worked with BodyCare Health
Club in Albany for 27 years as both instructor and trainer, during
which time he mentored many new instructors.
Back on the personal fitness front, Mark was always looking for
something new to get his teeth stuck into. Never one to shy away
from a challenge, he tried his hand at triathlons. First step, learning
how to swim! He learnt fast and managed to win many local events
and then quickly progressed to the Busselton Half Ironman, finishing
in the top 10 for his age group. This thirst for the thrill of competition
later evolved into a passion for adventure races.
Triathlons introduced him to the world of cycling and at the Albany
Cycling Club he was named club champion in 2006 and 2007. A