Pacific Team Report: Day 1

May 22, 2015

Megan Drapalski

Experience makes all the difference.

Experience makes all the difference.

 

Winter has arrived in the southern hemisphere, with rain falling as the fittest CrossFit athletes from Australia, New Zealand and all of Asia converge at the WIN Sports and Entertainment Centre for a three-day test to determine which five men, five women and five teams will qualify for the CrossFit Games.

Teams kick-started the first day of the competition with partner 410-lb. deadlifts and synchronized chest-to-bar pull-ups, and then a team-style mash-up of Tommy V and Randy.

All three Games qualifying teams from the 2014 Australia Regional and two of the Regional qualifying teams from the Asia Region were in attendance, and so too was CrossFit Games Director Dave Castro.  

TEAM EVENT 1

The first event involved the same work for all three male-female pairs of athletes, but different rep schemes. The first pair took on all 45 synchronized chest-to-bar pull-ups and 45 unevenly weighted 410-lb. partner deadlifts. The next pair did that work split into 27 and 18, and the final pair did it in the classic 21-15-9 rep scheme.

The synchronized chest-to-bar pull-ups proved the difference between many of the teams. Those able to synchronize butterfly chest-to-bars dominated, and those who opted for a standard kip quickly fell off the pace.

Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne took an early lead with 2014 Regional competitors Mitch Sinnamon and Jaime Goodwin setting a pace well under the event record set by Ute CrossFit last weekend.

The Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne pairing of Jordan Bender and Penny Kemp through the 45s gave them the lead, until the second pair of athletes stepped in for the 27-18 split, where in CrossFit Athletic surged ahead. The two teams traded the lead time and again, until the final pair of athletes stepped in for the 21-15-9.  

Schwartz’s pair’s choice of a standard kip on the 21-15-9 chest-to-bar pull-ups lost them their lead, giving it to Southern CrossFit.  Southern CrossFit took the lead on the set of 15 deadlifts, and quickly left Schwartz’s behind.

As Southern sealed the win in 14:30.5, Schwartz’s and Athletic contended for the second spot on the leaderboard. Athletic’s no reps on the 9 synchronized chest-to-bar pull-ups set them back, allowing Schwartz’s to take second in 14:59.4, followed by Athletic in 15:15.7.

The final CrossFit Athletic pairing were the quiet achievers as they put themselves into contention for second place with smooth deadlifts and good chest-to-bar pull-ups.

The next team didn’t cross the finish line for another 45 seconds.

Athletic athlete Kurt Foggo said the team stuck to its game plan well.

“Everyone changed their rep scheme a little because we were moving a bit quicker than in training, but we were all pretty calm and it was good to get the first one (event) out of the way,” Foggo said.

Team Event 1 Results
1. Southern CrossFit (14:30.5)
2. Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne (14.59.4)
3. CrossFit Athletic (15.15.7)
4. CrossFit Loaded (16.00.2)
5. CrossFit Active (17.30.9)

TEAM EVENT 2

The second team event was a mash-up of the two individual events that will be featured later today on Hero Friday: Tommy V (rope climbs and thrusters) and Randy (75 reps of light-weight snatches).

175 snatches (75 lb. / 55 lb.)
25 rope climbs
115 thrusters (115 lb. / 75 lb.)

All three men enter the floor first, and must complete their 175 snatches before the women could enter and begin theirs. Even though the event was relatively long, with a 25-minute time cap, there wasn’t much spread between the top teams. The top nine finished within a minute of each other.

Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne’s men got an edge in the snatches, finishing before the other teams by a few seconds to give their women a bit of extra time on the floor. CrossFit HPU and Tropic Thunder contended for the lead, until Schwartz’s women pulled ahead on the 25 rope climbs.

Schwartz’s reached the finish mat in 13:53.

Bender said Schwartz’s was chomping at the bit for Event 2 after its second-place finish in Event 1.

Murdoch agreed.

“The boys fought hard and got off the snatches fast, which gave us a bit more time to catch up and we did amazing, really well done as a team,” Murdoch said.

Zaks Pack East Tamaki snuck into second with a blistering pace on the thrusters. Zaks Pack is only one of two teams to go sub-20 on this event at the Pacific Regional with a time of 19.55.4.

Richard Idoine from Zaks Pack said that while the first event was a bit rough, but the team felt more confident at the end of Day 1.

“The second event was really good,” Idoine said. “We knew the guys needed to be quick because the girls were going to bring it home.”

Team Event 2
1. Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne (19:44.8)
2. Zak’s Pack East Tamaki (19:55.4)
3. Tropic Thunder: (20:04.8)
4. CrossFit HPU (20:16.4)
5. Team Creature (20:25.4)

At the end of Day 1, experience proves to be the difference between the teams with the top three teams packed with regionals and Games veterans.

Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne is made up primarily of athletes who have made the trip to Carson, California. The Melbourne crew have a clear lead with 195 points, 34 points clear of second with six points separating second, third and fourth.

2012 Games qualifying team Southern CrossFit sits in second and will be attempting to make a return trip to the CrossFit Games after missing qualification in 2014 and a disqualification in 2013.

Zaks Pack East Tamaki was seeded first coming into the weekend and is the only rookie team to sit inside the top three.

Overall Standings
1. Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne (195 points)
2. Southern CrossFit (169 points)
3. Zaks Pack East Tamaki (166 points)
4. CrossFit Athletic (163 points) 
5. CrossFit Loaded (150 points) 
6. CrossFit Active (147 points)
7. Team Creature (137 points)
8. CrossFit HPU (136 points)
9. Range of Motion   (136 points)
10. Tropic Thunder (135 points)