After a morning of ocean swims, burpees and kettlebell thrusters at Hermosa Beach Pier, and a night under the lights at the StubHub Center, Day 1 of the 2014 CrossFit Games is now over.
The first day of competition ended with two Australia qualifiers, Kara Webb and CrossFit Athletic, on the top of the leaderboard and the CrossFit ‘King’, Rich Froning, in the lead in the men’s half.
Here’s how it all unfolded:
The Beach
The first event of the CrossFit Games saw athletes with strong water-sport backgrounds dominate.
With 1000 yards of swimming in total, interspersed with kettlebell thrusters and burpees on the sand, the event was won or lost in the water.
Men
Jordan Troyan, who convincingly won The Pool in 2013, dominated the men’s event and finished almost two minutes ahead of second place finisher Jonne Koski.
Koski was one of three rookies to round out the top five, but CrossFit veteran Josh Bridges took third in a solid showing from the workhorse.
Australian Khan Porter and fellow rookie Noah Ohlsen rounded out the top five.
Froning had clearly taken note of Dave Castro’s penchant for opening the CrossFit Games in the water and posted his best placing yet for a water event to finishing eighth.
Jordan Troyan after winning The Beach Event
Women
Anna Tunnicliffe took out the women’s event ahead of Chyna Cho, who competed at the 2010 Games and has failed to qualify since, in second place and Kara Webb in third.
Former Olympic sailer Anna Tunnicliffe was at home in the water, despite saying after the event that she was scared of the water.
As a former collegiate swimmer, Cho had no trouble in the water and came back to the beach with plenty of gas for the thrusters and burpees.
It was unsurprising to see another Australian in the top five in Webb, a Brisbane beach girl, with most Aussies at home in the waves.
Webb powered through the thrusters to overtake fourth placed Michele Letendre while Cassidy Lance took fifth.
Teams
The first team event saw all members of the team enter the water at once for a 1000 yard swim with a rescue sled.
The event saw all three Australian affiliates place in the top 10 in one of the best team showings at the CrossFit Games.
CrossFit Athletic, who competed in 2012 but missed qualifying in 2013, took top honours for the day, beating out the star studded NorCal outfit by more than a minute to finish in 31.01.
CrossFit Invictus took third and Timberwolf CrossFit and CrossFit Atlantic rounded out the top five.
Team leaderboard at the end of Day 1:
1. (100) CrossFit Athletic
2. (95) NorCal CrossFit
3. (90) CrossFit Invictus
4. (85) Timberwolf CrossFit
5. (80) CrossFit Atlanta
Overall, the Aussie’s dominated the morning with seven out of the nine athletes or affiliates that qualified for the Games placing in the top 10 before the individuals took to the Tennis Stadium for the one-rep-max overhead squat.
Overhead Squat
The competitors threw some serious weight around when they took to the barbell with two men attempting to squat 400 lbs and one woman hitting 250 lbs.
Women
Heats 1 and 3 brought the biggest lifts of the night when the women took to the stadium floor.
2013 CrossFit Games Clean and Jerk Ladder champion Amanda Goodman took out Heat 1 by one pound with a score of 241 lbs over Elisabeth Akinwale who failed on her 250 lb attempt.
Aussie Pip Malone won Heat 2 with a 235 lb squat, in an event that played to her strengths.
But it was the final heat that saw all the action with Australian Kara Webb taking the event with a massive 250 lb squat, eight pounds heavier than second placed Camille Leblanc-Bazinet.
The top two placings from Event 2 carried over to the overall leaderboards with Webb in first place by 20 points over Leblanc-Bazinet.
Cassidy Lance rounds out the top three at the end of the first day.
Women’s leaderboard at the end of Day 1
1. (190) Kara Webb
2. (170) Camille Leblanc-Bazinet
3. (170) Cassidy Lance
4. (156) Michele Letendre
5. (154) Chyna Cho
Men
It was a predictable group at the top of the leaderboard for the men with Rich Froning back on top after a tied first place finish.
The men in Heat 1 posted some serious numbers on the board with a battle between one of CrossFit’s most loved veterans, Neil Maddox, and one of the 2014 rookies, Jeff Evans.
After a failed 380 lb squat for Maddox, Evans was victorious in the heat with a 375 lb lift.
Heat 2 saw the stakes raised again with Matthew Fraser squatting 377lb, just one pound heavier than Tommy Hackenbruck who landed 376 lbs on his second lift.
Hackenbruck made a 400 lb attempt but was unable to get under the jerk.
When the final heat took to the floor all eyes were on the big guns: Rich Froning and Jason Khalipa, but only Froning would go on to beat the top lifts from previous heats.
Froning nailed the 377 lb squat on his second lift to tie first before he loaded 400lb onto the bar, but there was no success.
At the end of Day 1, Froning sits on top, followed by Matthew Fraser and Noah Ohlsen.
Men’s leaderboard at the end of Day 1:
1. (171) Rich Froning
2. (153) Mathew Fraser
3. (139) Noah Ohlsen
4. (138) Scott Panchik
5. (134) Ben Smith
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