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Published on Tuesday, 20 November 2012 10:31
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Written by Ruth Silverman
The Ruthless Report 10: Darrian's Whirlwind Flight Into Fitness
It's no secret that I love the sport of fitness. I covered it in its
infancy back in the late ’80s, and I was present in Santa Monica, California, in 1999 when now-seven-time Fitness Olympia champ Adela Garcia beat out some 40 women to win the overall at the NPC USA. Of course, that was back in the day—before figure, before bikini, before women's physique. Fitness was thriving, and the only question was whether you absolutely had to be a former gymnastics star like Carol Semple or Kelly Ryan to win. (You didn't, but you did have to know how to move.)
Times changed. Figure came along—fitness without the routines, essentially—and then the other divisions. The fitness numbers in the amateurs dwindled, and people began to talk about whether it would survive. In addition, many of the gals who turned pro in the sport didn't do much after they got their cards, all of which which gave rise to Tanji’s celebrated campaign to “save fitness”—and made me very sad.
The past year or two, however, I've been feeling a lot more hopeful. it started with an influx of new pros, mostly from Canada, who are not shy about entering competitions. Jodi Boam, Danielle Ruban, Fiona Harris and Vanda Hadarean are just a few who have caught my eye. Then I went to the ’12 NPC Pittsburgh and got a look at DarrianTissenbaum, a 21-year-old biology student who won the overall, and I knew the sport would live to leap again.
The 5'3" doctor's daughter from the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon won her hometown show with an impressive routine that was already pro worthy. She subsequently won the ’12 Junior Nationals and aced her pro debut at the Fort Lauderdale Cup on October 21 by taking fourth.
That's not surprising, as she is in fact a gymnastics champ, one who not long ago was competing for Central Michigan University. She also started with a decent genetic package, physiquewise, something not all newcomers to the sport are gifted with. Sensing a possible Olympia champ in the making, I set about to discover what brought this talented young woman to the bodybuilding and fitness community.
First off, though, I had to ask her about her most unusual first name. The answer, charmingly, had a movie theme.
“In the original 'Wall Street' that came out in 1987, Daryl Hannah played a character named Darien Taylor,” she said. “At the time my mom was pregnant with my brother and said their first girl would be Darien—not sure why they spelled it the way they did though.”
Darr-i-a-n grew up the middle child in an athletic family, sandwiched between two Division 1 lacrosse players. (Her older brother played for Jacksonville (Florida) University, and her sister is headed to Sanford next year.) In addition, she related, "My dad runs masters track and field, winning world and national championships in the past few years in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, and my mom was an elite gymnast in Canada." For Darrian it was gymnastics all the way, an activity she started at around age three. At 12 she began to understand that she could be really good.
“I realized that if I took as many turns as I possibly could an tried the same trick over and over, I’d eventually learn the trick and become better—that was where I first formed my own work ethic as opposed to just doing things that I was told to do in practice.”
Her best events in college were vault and bars, and in high school she competed nationally at level 10. In her sophomore year at Central Michigan, however, the party came to an abrupt halt.
During her junior year of high school Darrian had suffered a bad fall and torn most of the ligaments in her right ankle. It was never really right after that. “After my senior year it was really bad, but I pushed through knowing I was expected to arrive at Central Michigan in tip-top shape because I was on a full scholarship.”
Within weeks sh
e had torn cartilage and bone spurs in her ankle. Surgery was followed by a too-soon return to competition, exacerbating the problem, but the athlete and her work ethic pushed through. “By the end of January, one month into my sophomore competitive season, I had been taping my ankle very tightly, and I was hindering the biomechanics so much that two bones in the top of my foot actually stress fractured." The prognosis: more surgeries and likely permanent damage if she continued to compete. Reluctantly, she decided to end her career.
It wasn't an easy transition. “Gymnastics always came before everything, and in an instant it was gone,” Darrian recalled. “I was very lost. I had always been ‘Darrian the gymnast,’ and now I was just Darrian. I finally had to start exploring other sides of myself and make decisions about how to spend my time and efforts.”
One of those decisions was to live closer to home and transfer to the University of Pittsburgh. Another was to get into in fitness, a sport her mother had competed in back in the late ’90s.
“Fitness was always something I figured I’d eventually get into because my mom did it,” she said. “Fitness seemed like a natural fit to fill the void, so I kind of just threw myself into it.”
How did she take to getting onstage in a bathing suit? “Well, the presentation onstage came naturally purely because I enjoy performing and entertaining, but the physique round is still my weaker of the two. Gymnastics provided me with a great muscular base to build from, but there were a lot of aesthetic muscles I had to bring up."
The diet component "brought a new version of hard work and discipline," she said. "In gymnastics, I trained as hard as I could for the hours I was in the gym each day, and that was as much as I could do. Fitness is a 24-hour-a-day commitment where every second in and out of the gym affects your outcome. That was hard for me and is still difficult.”
Her short-but-successful contest history indicates that Darrian has a definite bent for her newfound sport. For her debut in Fort Lauderdale, she said, “I tried bringing up my shoulders, arms and hamstrings and creating more separation in my muscles, especially my legs. I also wanted to come in tighter and harder with better conditioning.” That mission was obviously accomplished, as she took fourth in the physique round as well as the routines in a lineup of 15.
It's not hard to think that this talented young woman will have a role in the future of fitness. The best part for her, she said, "has been finding a new passion for myself." Nothing could fill the void left by gymnastics, she thought. Now, she said, "I truly have found a passion for all of this and would love to make some sort of career in the fitness industry."
It's not easy for a newcomer to get noticed by the judges even if she has a flashy routine. Why did Darrian think she stood out? She cited her routine, but I would argue that her physique had something to do with it as well. Readers can check out the accompanying photo for themselves.
"Aside from the level of difficulty of my routine, more than anything I aim to entertain and captivate," said Darrian, who coaches competitive gymnastics at Gym Dandy's training center near Pittsburgh in her spare time. "Bringing a high level of energy to a stage draws people in, and having a strong theme like I did as 'the pirate' really helps people remember you. Also, in fitness as opposed to the other categories, such as bikini and figure, there are fewer competitors. So if you can really come in and make a splash, it gives you the opportunity to rise to the top quickly."
Smart, as well as talented, symmetrical and only 21. I asked about her future plans for the sport and was not shocked to hear that she was putting in for the Fitness International at the Arnold Sports Festival in March.
"I plan to just keep pushing and improving and see where it can take me," she said. "It’s truly been a whirlwind."
And it's only just begun.
