Groton Naval Lieutenant Competes on “America Ninja Warrior”

A local woman is using every ounce of strength she has to compete for the title of American Ninja Warrior. She is a Groton US Navy officer and one of the only women in New England who made the first cut.

Push-ups, pulls ups,you name it and Lt. Natalie Schibell has tried it all to compete for $1 million prize and the coveted title of American Ninja Warrior.

“I was sitting on the couch with my good high school friend and we’re watching the show and he challenged me to be a contestant and I couldn’t turn a challenge down,” Schibell said.

The environmental health officer created an audition tape back in January and trained nonstop until she finally got the call in April that she was chosen to compete in an “All Service Member” cast in June.

“June 5th were the qualifiers. They take the top 30 finishers, the ones who finished the course. If they don’t have enough finishers they take the next up to 30 who had the fastest time,” she said.

Preparing herself was a challenge in itself because the contestants don’t know which obstacles they’d be faced with. The former track runner and competitive swimmer tried everything: pull ups, climbs, kettlebells and one handed push-ups all to work on her upper body strength.

“You have no hands on experience on the obstacles. You see a tester run through the course and then when it’s your time to step on the stage that’s your shot,” said Schibell.
So did she make it to the next round?

“That’s all under wraps until it airs,” she said.

A binding contract kept her quiet but she did hint that this won’t be her last audition. If you want to see how she did, watch the American Ninja Warriors San Pedro Regionals episode which airs on July 6 on NBC.

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