The story of both the 2nd and 3rd team events was Danny Nichols — TJ’s Gym-CrossFit San Rafael — who cleaned 365 lb., but was disappointed.
“I was hoping for at least 395,” he said after the short workout featuring 2 minutes of rope climbs and 2 minutes for a 1-rep max clean. “I figured 395 and I’d go for a crowd-pleaser.”
The former Minnesota State football player’s PR clean is “410 or 415, I can’t remember.” Nichols started CrossFitting in January.
Nichols, 29, cleaned 395, but wasn’t able to stand up with it, resulting in a no-rep.
The only other person who came close was Easton Evans, the 19-year-old on CrossFit Waco’s team, who cleaned 335 lb. “I feel really good,” he said moments after the short workout that brought him a PR. Previously, his best clean was 325 lb. And he broke his own record with both palms ripped and bloodied after 4 rope ascents.
Evans said he felt confidently going into the events. Prior to the workouts, he said he was thinking, “We gotta kill it. There’s no room for error.”
Despite his big clean, though, he wasn’t up for making further predictions for the 2011 Affiliate Cup. “This is a long weekend,” Evans said. “So you never know what might happen.”
For European team CrossFit Butcher’s Garage — who traveled 22 hours from Copenhagen, Denmark, to compete at the Games — the most trouble came with the system of measurement that was not metric. “We had trouble converting pounds to kilograms,” team captain Sarah Troelsen Krarup said afterward.
Nonetheless, team members were happy with the short workouts. As far as their performance, that was a different story, she said. “Some are really happy. Some are not. But that’s part of being a team,” Troelsen Krarup said.
Meanwhile, CrossFit Fury thought events 2 and 3 were “too quick,” team members Aimee Berencsi and Gareth Buxton said. “We’re kinda looking forward to a longer-style chipper,” Buxton added.
Several teams agreed that doing heavy cleans following a rope climb was a challenge because of diminished grip and forearm strength.
Aaron Landes of CrossFit Fenway was shooting for a 275-lb. clean to match his PR. Instead, he maxed at 255 lb. during the workout. “I honestly don’t think I would have gotten it because my grip was done,” he said.
Fenway was well prepared for the workout, having included rope climbs in programming over the past 2 months, Landes said. “We felt good going into it,” he said. “It was cool.”
After 3 events, defending champ CrossFit Fort Vancouver was in 1st overall, followed by Diablo CrossFit and CrossFit New England.
For complete results, visit the Scoreboard. The next team event will be released later tonight. Stay tuned.