A 2017 Regional Recap
Who punched their ticket to Cars... I mean, Madison in this years CrossFit Games Regionals?! Yeah, that's right, we have a new venue this year for the 2017 CrossFit Games. The fittest on Earth will no longer test their abilities in California this year; rather, they'll be battling it out for the title Fittest on Earth in Wisconsin. The 2017 Games season began all the way back in February and will conclude this August in the home of the University of Wisconsin.
After the Open, the top 20 individuals and 15 teams from 17 regions got invites to their respective Super-Regional. Over the last 3 weekends, we've seen those Regionals pave the way to Madison. Many of the world's fittest went head-to-head for their opportunity at the true test, The CrossFit Games. Below, we'll talk about a brief recap of the major stories, events, and upsets, as well as list the competitors and teams that will be representing their region in August.
It's no surprise if you watched any of this years Regionals over the last few weekends that the major stories were about the lack of barbell in the programming and the pecs. Yupp, the men and their boobies. Around 30 male athletes over the course of 3 weekends fell victim to a pec injury. Some athletes experienced their pec injury prior to competition leaving them with the decision to compete or withdraw. For some, event 2 ended their competition early, forcing a withdraw or were fighting the pain in remaining events. Event 2 consisted of 21-15-9 reps of DB Snatches and Ring Dips. You're probably thinking that something has to be off for these world class athletes to be crippled under only 45 ring dips. There have been theories floating around the internet and social media as to why this may have happened to all these high-level athletes. If you're interested in reading up on some of those and who were affected by this injury, here are some links:
http://themovementfix.com/many-people-injuring-pecs-regionals/
http://thebarbellspin.com/functional-fitness/dave-castro-talks-about-event-2-and-pec-injuries/
http://thebarbellspin.com/functional-fitness/pec-tears-at-regionals-23-and-counting/
http://www.floelite.com/article/57047-more-pec-injuries-in-week-3-of-2017-crossfit-games-regionals#.WTSgBhPyszY
The other big story was the lack of barbell in the workouts this year. In years past, there have been 7 workouts throughout the 3 day weekend. This year, there was only 6 workouts which means a lot less points were on the table for people to utilize to make up if they had a bad workout. With a weighted vest, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags, and assault bikes being the bigger pieces of equipment this year, this gave a shake-up to the leaderboard. Those who were "barbell specialists" didn't necessarily suffer, but certainly didn't perform as they would have if we saw some heavy barbells in a few of the workouts. One arm dumbbell movements and kettlebell deadlifts exposed weaknesses of those who favored a barbell in their training. Those teams who didn't have much competition experience also suffered due to the new Regional implement... the Worm. If you haven't used one in the Games or aren't fortunate to have trained with one prior to competition, the Worm can certainly give some trouble to those less prepared.
Quite the number of Games veterans made it back, and vice-versa - a number of former Games athletes missed out on their chance to go back. I noticed that a few opportunities were taken away from some athletes, whether to compete at Regionals or even the Games. With the different age divisions and their age division qualifiers to go to the Games, if they place high enough overall in the 18-34 age division, they are also allowed to compete at Regionals as well. During the course of the 3 weekends, there were a few athletes that were either under 18 or over 34 years of age who completed their age division qualifier that also competed at Regionals. My personal opinion, they should have been forced to make the decision prior to the start of age qualifiers/Regionals as to which one they want to do. They shouldn't have the opportunity to make it to the Games twice when others only have one opportunity. Sure, something is said about their ability under 18 years of age or over the age of 34 to be able to hang with the 22 and 23 year old athletes, but when someone has dedicated their time to train for Regionals, it seems unfair to give that persons spot to someone who has already made it to the Games under their age division qualifier. I'm not naming specific athlete names, but 3 different females off the top of my head, above the age of 34, qualified for the CrossFit Games for both their age division qualifier and for Regionals. So, if they were to make that decision ahead of time as to which one they were going to do, another athlete could have had their spot in the given competition. That is my only issue I had during the course of the three weekends.
A big story that gave some light to the injuries and debating over the programming of the Regionals was Julian Alcaraz. Julian Alcaraz earned his 4th place finish over the course of 3 days and 6 workouts. He had his trip to the CrossFit Games booked, when he decided that being a father was more important. His future child is due in August around the time of the CrossFit Games. He gave his spot to the 6th place finisher, Wesley Rethwill. Does this somewhat contradict my statement in the last paragraph? No, he didn't have the opportunity to compete twice to try to make it to the CrossFit Games. At 27 years old, he only had one shot to compete and it was at the California Regional. Though, he may have known that he would decline his invitation ahead of time, his selfless act to let someone else take his spot earned him a spotlight shoutout in this post!
To wrap up the last three weekends, there were a lot of ups, downs, cheers, tears, injuries, and tickets punched to Madison from many CrossFit athletes. As a spectator, we have the opportunity to have a look from the outside and see what countless hours of hard work and dedication looks like. Though, unless you're training for to compete at the highest level, it's hard to understand what all of those emotions must feel like whether you make it to the Games or fail to qualify. Being able to understand that these athletes dedicate every waking hour to this, put a lot into perspective as I watched Regionals. In conclusion to this post, as you read the names of the athletes and teams that are representing their region at the CrossFit Games, understand that these are the best of the best from around the world that competed in not only Regionals, but along side of you in the CrossFit Open...
TEAMS:
12 LABOURS LIONS
HUSTLEHARD CROSSFIT
CROSSFIT BALANCE
CROSSFIT REVAMPED
336 CROSSFIT
NORCAL
INVICTUS
ENDGAME ATHLETICS
BEAR REPUBLIC CROSSFIT
CROSSFIT ASAP
CROSSFIT MAYHEM
CROSSFIT417
OC3 BLACK
TIMBERWOLF CROSSFIT
MAXIMUS
TEAM BACK BAY
TEAM CROSSFIT MILFORD
REEBOK CROSSFIT ONE
CROSSFIT QUEENS
OCEAN STATES FINEST
CROSSFIT JST
CROSSFIT FABRIKEN
CFXY
MAXPULS SPARTANS
CROSSFIT REYKJAVIK
FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH
INJUSTICE CREW
CROSSFIT EAST TAMAKI
REEBOK CROSSFIT FRANKSTON
CROSSFIT MOORABBIN
WASATCH BRUTES
SALT LAKE CITY CF
BIGG FRIENDS
CROSSFIT OMNIA
PILLAR CROSSFIT
CROSSFIT FORT VANCOUVER
CASCADE CROSSFIT
CROSSFIT MARYSVILLE
WORK HARD LIVE FIT
LANE 5 ATHLETICS
WOMEN:
CASSIDY LANCE-MCWHERTER
EMILY BRIDGERS
MCKENZIE RILEY
WHITNEY GELIN
ANNA TOBIAS
CHYNA CHO
KIRSTEN PEDRI
ALESSANDRA PICHELLI
VALERIE VOBORIL
LAUREN FISHER
RAGNHEIDUR SARA SIGMUNDSDOTTIR
KRISTI ERAMO
STACIE TOVAR
BROOKE WELLS
JESSICA GRIFFITH
CAROL-ANN REASON-THIBAULT
KATRIN TANJA DAVIDSDOTTIR
KARI PIERCE
DANI HORAN
CHELSEY HUGHES
KRISTIN HOLTE
SAMANTHA BRIGGS
ANNIE THORISDOTTIR
JAMIE GREENE
THURIDUR ERLA HELGADOTTIR
KARA WEBB
TIA-CLAIR TOOMEY
ALETHEA BOON
MADELINE STURT
JESSICA COUGHLAN
TENNIL REED
CAMILLE LABLANC-BAZINET
MARGAUX ALVAREZ
BETHANY BRANHAM
ALEXIS JOHNSON
CARLEEN MATHEWS
REGAN HUCKABY
EMILY ABBOTT
CARLY FUHRER
CASEY CAMPBELL
MEN:
NOAH OLSEN
ALEC SMITH
BEN SMITH
TRAVIS MAYER
RYAN ELROD
JOSH BRIDGES
GARRET FISHER
JASON CARROLL
JEFF PATZER
WESLEY RETHWILL
R. PAUL CASTILLO
STREAT HOERNER
SCOTT PANCHIK
ALEX ANDERSON
ZAK CARCHEDI
MATHEW FRASER
PATRICK VELLNER
TIM PAULSON
CODY MOONEY
MICHAEL PALOMBA
BJORGVIN KARL GUDMUNDSSON
JONNE KOSKI
JASON SMITH
LUKAS ESSLINGER
FREDERICK AEGIDIUS
JAMES NEWBURY
RICKY GARARD
ROB FORTE
ZEKE GROVE
MITCHELL SINNAMON
LOGAN COLLINS
TRAVIS WILLIAMS
DAKOTA RAGER
ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
TOMMY VINAS
BRENT KIKOWSKI
SAMUEL KWANT
CODY ANDERSON
COLE SAGER
GEORGE SANCHEZ
