2013 CrossFit Games Preview: Asia Region

With the 2013 CrossFit Open just days away, we thought we’d take some time to preview every region taking part this year.

Today we take a closer look at the Asia Region.

There is no doubting the fact Asia was one of the worst performing Regions during last year’s CrossFit season. Both individuals who competed at the CrossFit Games finished outside the top 30, while the sole team representing the Region finished last.

In addition, Asia also struggled during the Regional stage with just six female competitors and two teams able to complete all workouts within the required deadlines.

However, in the past year the Asian Region has grown exponentially with dozens of new CrossFit gyms opening up, and thousands of new athletes picking up the sport.

In 2013 we can expect to see huge improvements in the Asia Regions.

Here are some individuals and teams to look out for:

Men

After claiming the Regional title for the past two years, Daniel Hershey will be the man to beat in 2013.

At last year’s Regionals, Hershey finished top six in all events, and ended 16 points ahead of his nearest rival. He then went on to finish 33rd at the Games that year to show he has what it takes to mix it with the best in the world.

Other names to keep an eye on in 2013 include Joseph Rank (2nd at 2012 Regionals), Brice Collier (3rd at 2012 Regionals) and Michael Mogard (4th the 2012 Regionals).

2012 Regional Results:

1. Daniel Hershey
2. Joseph Rank
3. Brice Collier

Women

Christen Wagner looks to be the athlete to beat in the females division after claiming the Regional title in 2012. Wagner was the standout performer over the weekend, winning four of the six events. She then went on to finish 41st at the Games that year.

Another competitor to watch out for is 2011 Regional Champion Candice Howe. Howe was the runner up in Asia last year and will hoping to reclaim the title in 2013.

Other names to keep an eye on include Feng Yi Chew (3rd at 2012 Regionals) and Nicole Tainatongo (4th at the 2012 Regionals).

2012 Regionals Results:

1. Christen Wagner
2. Candice Howe
3. Feng Yi Chew

Team

The team division is by far the weakest division in Asia. At last year’s Regionals just two teams were able to finish all the workouts within the cut-off times. In addition, the sole Team representative at the 2012 Games, Shogun CrossFit, finished last overall.

This year, however, we can expect the standard to improve with dozens of new CrossFit gyms opening up over the past 12 months.

In particular, a number of Reebok boxes have popped up with Reebok CrossFit Maru, Reebok CrossFit Sentinel Downtown and Reebok CrossFit Fighting Spirit all hailing out of Seoul.

2012 Regional Results:

1. Shogun CrossFit
2. Reebok CrossFit Asia