YEARS of dedication have paid off for BENt On CrossFit athlete Ben Garard.

The Highlands CrossFit athlete has qualified for the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games in Carson, California this July.

"It's still a bit surreal at the moment, but as every day goes past it's starting to sink in a little bit more," Garard said.

The CrossFit Games is a three-part competition to find the fittest man and woman in the world.

Garard finished the first stage, the CrossFit Open, third out of more than 5500 competitors in Australia to progress to the three-day Pacific Regional in Wollongong last weekend.

It was Garard's third trip to Regionals and he had his sights locked on one of the five qualifying tickets to the CrossFit Games.

However, poor finishes in the first two events on Day 1 of competition meant his hopes appeared dashed.

"I started in one of the worst ways possible and thought I'd won my heat [in Event 1], but got pulled back and had to finish off, which cost me 25 places on the leaderboard," Garard said.

"Event 2 came around quickly after going through the appeals process about Event 1 and I didn't get to warm up as well as I'd liked to, so I had to re-set my mind and focus on what was in front of me."

He finished the first day in 29th place.

But Garard didn't let the magnitude of the challenge in front of him get his confidence down.

"Day 2, the pressure was off and I felt like I had nothing to prove, so I just enjoyed the atmosphere," he said.

"I was fortunate enough to have CrossFit Games athlete Brandon Swan in the heat with me and we pushed each other and fought our way back into the top heat."

The BENtOn CrossFit athlete placed in the top 10 on the remaining five events to be the most consistent athlete across the last two days of competition.

"I beat all of my training times for the events and performed well," Garard said.

"I was able to use that mindset and the crowd's support to my advantage."

Garard's qualification came down to the last event, however, where it took an Event Record time of 1.17 through 15 unbroken muscle-ups and a clean ladder that finished at 120kg to orchestrate one of the most spectacular comebacks in CrossFit Regional history.

First place on the final event meant Garard sealed the fifth and final qualifying spot for the CrossFit Games.

"That final workout was perfect for me and I knew I was a chance for an Event Record, so it was just a matter of executing," Garard said.

"It was an emotional weekend, but I think I won myself a lot of fans with how I carried myself."

Garard now has two months to prepare for the CrossFit Games and said he would focus on attacking his aerobic fitness with more runs, bike rides, swims and long rows.

"I'm going to focus on being as well rounded as possible," he said.