Brian Cook

I was very athletic in high school playing Baseball, Soccer, and Tennis. I went to college, left all sports, and gained some weight over the years. I decided to take charge and change my life so I started Bodybuilding. I did a traditional bodybuilding routine and nutrition program for years. I then started getting into Triathlons for more diversity. I found CrossFit by accident in 2008. I was researching off-season training for triathlons. I also posted an injury from a bicycle accident which resulted in surgery on my optical socket.

I tried CrossFitting by following the leading site and realized quickly that I didn’t have the equipment. I went to the only affiliate in Western Mass, PVCF. They were in Easthampton at the time. After about a year, I heard that they were moving to Northampton. Deciding that it was too far to drive every day, I took a deep breath and decided that I should affiliate. I became CrossFit Level 1 certified in October 2009 and moved to my first location (the floor space was 500 sq. ft. with only 12 clients!)

When we opened we were the 2nd CrossFit affiliate in Western Mass. We kept growing and in March 2011, moved into a 4000 sq. ft floor space on Mainline Drive in Westfield and finally to our current location, 4 Coleman Ave, Westfield in 2015. Coleman Ave has 5000 sq, ft of floor space. I have never done a triathlon since because CrossFit became my sport. I ran the SunTrust National Half Marathon in D.C . in April 2009 and I trained CrossFit only for it. I did only one training run which was 8 miles long.

Most of my runs in CrossFit were less than a mile. The reason that I started Swarm was to help as many people as I could get fitter, healthier, and happier.