After one day of individual competition, three-time CrossFit Games champion Rich Froning and Australia’s Kara Webb sit atop of the leaderboard.
Athletes kicked off the 2014 CrossFit Games on Wednesday with the first event of the competition: The Beach:
For time:
Swim 250 yards
50 kettlebell thrusters (35 / 24 lb.)
30 burpees
Swim 500 yards
30 burpees
50 kettlebell thrusters (35 / 24 lb.)
Swim 250 yards
This is the 4th consecutive year in which a swim has made an appearance, and right off the bat the athletes with extensive experience in the water made their moves. Jordan Troyan, an All-American collegiate swimmer and Anna Tunnicliffe, a former Olympic sailor, led their events the whole way through on their way to racking up a first place and 100 valuable points.
On the men’s side, Jonne Koski, the 19 year old Games rookie who won the Europe Regional, followed in second, with Josh Bridges rounding out the top 3. The top 5 finishers in event 1 included three Games rookies (Jonee Koski, Khan Porter and Noah Olsen). Rich Froning (who finished 30th in the pool event last year and still won the Games) finished in 8th. Froning clearly showed how much work he’s been dedicating to the water. Jason Khalipa, 2nd place finisher from the 2013 Games, grabbed an 18th place finish while Ben Smith (3rd in 2013) had a solid performance and came in 11th.
For the women, Tunnicliffe ‘sailed’ through the competition to win in 31:43. Chyna Cho, a 2010 Games competitor and a collegiate swimmer at San Jose State, followed in 2nd, with Australian Kara Webb rounding out the top 3. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet had a strong performance and finished 6th, with 2013 3rd place finisher Valerie Voboril not far behind her in 8th. Julie Foucher and Annie Thorisdottir, both in their ‘comeback year’ had a tight battle, both with only place separating them as they finished 13th and 15th respectively. Rookie Lauren Fisher had an excellent start to her Games debut, coming in 11th.
Later in the evening, individual athletes took to the Stub Hub Center as they battled it out in the 1-rep max overhead squat event. Athletes had three attempts to establish their max.
On the men’s side, Games rookie Jeff Evans set the bar high at 375lbs during the first round of male athletes. The northeast’s Mathew Fraser and Tommy Hackenbruck managed to edge out Fraser during the second round of athletes with lifts of 377 and 376 respectively. Hackenbruck missed a 400lb lift on his third attempt. During the final group of athletes, Froning stole the show as he matched Fraser’s 377lb lift without much difficulty and like Hackenbruck followed it up with a missed 400lb lift on his third attempt.
On the women’s side Webb won the event with a lift of 250 lb., Camille Leblanc-Bazinet of Canada was second (242 lb.), and Americans Amanda Goodman and Cassidy Lance tied for third (241 lb.).
Athletes will rest on Thursday and return to action Friday with the Triple 3 (For time: Row 3,000 meters, 300 double-unders, run 3 miles). With only two events complete and three days of action on the horizon, it’s still a tight race on both the men’s and women’s side for the podium.
