Who is CrossFit Syndicate?

July 20, 2014

Candice Case

“All of this means nothing without the support of our members. Our community represents what we do. ... If we can inspire or push someone and enable them to be a part of something larger, then we’re thrilled.” ~Brad Weiss

CrossFit Syndicate of Columbia, Maryland, entered the 2014 Mid Atlantic Regional quietly and under the radar. But by the end of Day 1, everyone was asking, “Who is CrossFit Syndicate?”

Who Is CrossFit Syndicate?

CrossFit Syndicate is part of the 12 Labours, which is comprised of Syndicate, CrossFit BWI and CrossFit Annapolis. Its owners, Luke Espe and Brad Weiss, were in the spectator section at last year’s regional and decided to put together a team for the following year. Most gyms take years to develop a regional-level team, especially one that can qualify for the Games.

Syndicate did it in a year’s time.

“We didn’t know what to expect. We basically chose the best six individuals that would work well together,” Weiss said.

The men of Syndicate—Weiss, Espe and Jimmy Violand—played collegiate sports, work as CrossFit trainers and are thankful to have found a competitive outlet in CrossFit.

“I began searching for outlets to fill the gap,” Weiss explained. “I never trained without a purpose to my training. I was utterly lost. I missed the camaraderie and motivation of being on a team.”

The women of Syndicate have varied athletic backgrounds. Coach Rebecca Koch has participated in various sports and has “an unmistakable passion for fitness and a desire to spread awesomeness to others.” For Koch, that awesomeness is CrossFit.

Christa Giordano was a National Canadian Fitness Competitor from 2005 through 2007. After her career as a figure and fitness competitor, she began CrossFit in Vancouver, Canada, and has been a regional qualifier since 2010.

Christen Wagner won the 2012 Asia Regional and went on to compete at that year’s CrossFit Games. She was an active duty Marine on deployment in Asia, and after the 2012 Games she decided to continue competing in CrossFit on a team. Wagner said she missed “the feeling of accomplishment that goes along with belonging to a team.” Wagner was part of Team Asia at the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games.

2014 Regionals

As Syndicate approached the regional weekend, it was in sixth place.

“We hit a mock regional weekend and we felt we had the perfect mold of a team and had everything covered,” Weiss said. “All of us have different strengths and weaknesses. We’re well rounded. Our goal was to complete all the workouts in a respectable time.”

Syndicate had two first-place finishes and earned a top-10 or better finish for the remaining events. At the end of Days 1 and 2, Syndicate sat in third place. For the final event, Syndicate beat CrossFit Explode by a mere 9 seconds to take the win in the event and move them up to second place on the podium, just 1 point ahead of Rising Orange.

“Being on the podium was the coolest athletic accomplishment,” Weiss said. “No one can give it to you; you have to earn it. It’s not about luck or chance. It was so rewarding. We had the hopes and goals of going to the Games. We’re extremely happy with how we did and what we achieved.”

Preparing for the Games

The team’s Games prep varies.

“Ryan Thompson does the programming for the team and we’re focusing on running, rowing and swimming, and heavy barbell and high-skill movements,” Weiss explained. “On the weekends, we hit doubles and two days a week, we do a lot of strength training.

Weiss admitted Syndicate doesn’t know what to expect in California.

“A top-10 finish for us would be huge. We’re not ones to go into something to lose,” he said. “We want to do our best. There’s going to be a lot of working together and we can’t worry about where we’ll end up. The level of competition is higher at the Games. We’re super excited for the experience and anxious to see how we respond to it. We want to see how we stack up against the other teams. We feel like we’re going to represent the Mid Atlantic and all the gyms in the area.”

Community

One of Syndicate’s greatest motivations for competing is its community. All of the team members spend most of their days helping their community establish and achieve goals. Now the community has an opportunity to view the team members as athletes who are following and reaching their own goals.

“All of this means nothing without the support of our members,” Weiss said. “Our community represents what we do. It’s about the everyday person. If we can inspire or push someone and enable them to be a part of something larger, then we’re thrilled. It’s not just about us, it’s about something much bigger.”