Wellington is the home to another world champion in sports. It’s 11-year-old Haven Chizmar, who has just returned from a winning performance at this year’s Federation of International Ninja Athletics (FINA) World Championship.
This year’s competition was held at the Dallas Market Hall in Texas from July 10 to July 12. At the beginning of the competition, Chizmar was one of many competitors, but by the end of the three-day event, she had emerged at the top of the medal podium as the 11U FINA Ninja World Champion.
Chizmar will be entering the sixth grade this fall. She attends Conscious Kids, a local homeschool micro school.
She spends nearly as much time in a traditional classroom as she does training for her next ninja competition. “I train four to five times a week,” Chizmar said.
Chizmar trains under the guidance of Flip Rodriguez and Megan Budway, both veteran competitors on the hit TV show American Ninja Warrior. She also works on her ninja skills at Jumptwist Ninja Academy in Boca Raton. She works on building her strength, speed and agility with coach Hunter Macrone at Johnny O’s Gymnasium, which is also in Boca Raton.
Clearly, her hard work and dedication have paid dividends. This is Chizmar’s second FINA world title, having previously won the 9U female division in 2023. To qualify for this year’s competition, she had to win regional and sectional qualifiers. Throughout the competition in Dallas last month, she dominated all three events: Speed, Endurance, and FINA Head-to-Head, which is a thrilling race format where two athletes compete side-by-side.
Competing in this type of athletic competition is not easy. Chizmar has definitely had her fair share of bumps, bruises and setbacks.
“She once split her eyebrow open on a sky hook obstacle, needed 10 stitches, and was back in the gym the very next day, even competing in the World Ninja League’s Premier Series with a bandage across her face,” recalled her mother, Cristina Chizmar. “No matter how many times she fails or is knocked down, she gets back up even stronger. She constantly proves that strong things come in small packages.”
At the moment, ninja is her only sport. Chizmar is still climbing up the ninja ladder and has big goals to accomplish.
“Her dream is to one day compete on American Ninja Warrior when she becomes eligible at age 14,” her mother noted. “Until then, she appears to be on a mission to dominate every league she can, including FINA, World Ninja League (WNL), the Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association (UNAA) and the Youth Ninja Sports Network (NSC).”
You can follow Haven Chizmar’s ninja journey on Instagram @the.catninja.
