2013 CrossFit Open Predictions

Over the past month, The Rx Review has previewed all of the 17 Regions taking part in the 2013 CrossFit Open, starting March 6.

Now, after going over all the big name individuals and teams over the past few years, it’s time to make our predictions for 2013.

Unlike the CrossFit Games and the Regionals, the Open gives athletes the unique ability to strategize, trial, and the repeat workouts numerous times.

While some competitors prefer to do the workout just the one time, others perform them multiple times each week, improving as they go. For this reason, the Open is a lot harder to predict than the CrossFit Games or Regionals.

That being said, here is who we think will finish in the top 10 in the men, women and team divisions this year:

Men

With two CrossFit Games titles behind him, it’s really hard to look past anyone other than Rich Froning.

Froning won the CrossFit Open last year, and finished 3rd in 2011. In addition, he has broken several new PRs already this year, making him the man to catch in the Open.

Froning’s training partner, Dan Bailey will probably provide the most competition in the men’s division. Bailey won the Open in 2011 and finished 4th last year. Bailey performs extremely well in basic CrossFit movements and the Open suits him as well as any other CrossFitter, which is why we expect to see an upset in this year’s Open.

For the past two years NorCal boys Jason Khalipa and Neal Maddox have used to Open to push each-other in training and have both finished inside the top 12 for the past two years. We can expect that to continue in 2013.

This year we also welcome back some familiar faces in Josh Bridges and Mikko Salo. In 2011, both finished inside the top five, and with the two of them coming back from time away from the sport, we think they will be keen to perform the workouts multiple times and post some big scores.

Other names we expect to be high up on the leaderboard include South American Orlando Trejo, last year’s runner up Sean Thomson, 2013 OC Throwdown winner Kenneth Leverich and CrossFit veteran Pat Barber.

2013 Open Predictions:

1. Dan Bailey
2. Rich Froning
3. Neal Maddox
4. Josh Bridges
5. Orlando Trejo
6. Jason Khalipa
7. Mikko Salo
8. Sean Thomson
9. Kenneth Leverich
10. Pat Barber

Women

While she won the CrossFit Games for the second time in a row last year, Annie Thorisdottir was not the winner of the 2012 Open. That title went to 2010 Games champion Kristan Clever.

Clever won three of the five workouts last year, beating Thorisdottir by more than 80 points. There is no doubt the Open is well suited to her, with the majority of workouts involving lighter weights and basic movements.

Another name to keep an eye on is Samantha Briggs, who returns after missing the 2012 season with a knee injury. Briggs finished 3rd in the 2011 Open and certainly has the ability to crack the top five again.

Julie Foucher, who says she won’t be competing competitively in 2013, has also signed up for the Open. If she puts in her best efforts, we can expect her to post her third straight top 10 finish.

Other names to keep an eye on include Emily Bridgers (4th in the 2012 Open), Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (top 12 the past two years), Elyse Umeda (top 10 past two years and will compete in Team division in 2013) and Talayna Fortunato (17th in 2012 Open).

Last year we saw a lot of athletes finish inside the top 10, and then fail to qualify for the Games at the Regionals. In 2013 there is a good chance that trend will continue.

2013 Open Predictions:

1. Kristan Clever
2. Annie Thorisdottir
3. Samantha Briggs
4. Talayna Fortunato
5. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet
6. Deborah Cordner Carson
7. Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir
8. Emily Bridgers
9. Elyse Umeda
10. Julie Foucher

Team

By far the hardest division to predict. The Team division is very much a numbers game, with depth a huge factor in the Open.

In the past few years we have seen many great teams fail to qualify because they were one or two good athletes short.

Brick Nation took out the Open last year, ahead of Valley CrossFit and we expect them to be up there again in 2013. Big name teams like CrossFit Invictus, CrossFit New England and Diablo CrossFit will be there abouts again in 2013, as will reigning Affiliate Cup winners Hack’s Pack UTE.

Outside of America Schwartzs Crossfit Melbourne has probably been one of the best performing teams over the past few years, while CrossFit Reykjavík has also shown plenty of improvement.

Other teams to look out for include RCF Honey Badgers (4th in the 2012 Open), Get Lifted (6th in the 2012 Open) and RAW Training (top 10 the past two years).

2013 Open Predictions:

1. Valley CrossFit
2. Hack’s Pack UTE
3. CrossFit Invictus
4. Brick Nation
5. Diablo CrossFit
6. CrossFit Reykjavik
7. RAW Training
8. Get Lifted
9. RCF Honey Badgers
10. Schwartzs CrossFit Melbourne