18.3 Recap: Panic and Confusion

March 10, 2018

Brittney Saline

Week 3 of the Open leaves athletes sucking wind.

Kyle Kasperbauer had just begun Round 2 of Open Workout 18.3, and he was sucking wind.

He broke the round’s first 100 double-unders into 3 sets and split the following 20 115-lb. overhead squats up, too. His shoulders heaved as he rested, mouth gaping and gasping for air.

It was an unusual sight for the CrossFit Games veteran, who took third in 2012 and won the 35-39 Division in his masters debut last year.

But that was Dave Castro’s plan all along.

Dave Castro

“The intent is to cause panic and confusion,” Castro, the Director of the CrossFit Games, said after the event.

Any one of 18.3’s elements—20 overhead squats, 12 ring muscle-ups, 20 dumbbell snatches and 12 bar muscle-ups—would be unremarkable by itself, but sandwiched between 100 double-unders?

“They suddenly become difficult,” Castro continued.

The mayhem took place at Skyline CrossFit in Houston, Texas, which just six months ago was devastated by the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey. Neal Maddox, a six-time CrossFit Games athlete and last year’s second-place finisher in the Masters Men 35-39 Division, joined Kasperbauer on the floor.

The live announcement of 18.3 was the first in history to feature two masters athletes. It was also the first to feature both ring and bar muscle-ups; however, both firsts were slightly overshadowed by a distinct lack of oxygen in the room.

Bar Muscle-Ups

“It was a double-under workout for sure,” Maddox said, once he found his lungs again.

The competitors were well matched, playing cat and mouse within a 5-rep window in the first round. In Round 2, things got ugly. Though the pair started the round together, Kasperbauer’s technique soon became uncharacteristically labored on his fifth set of 100 double-unders, his knees rising and torso tipping forward with each jump.

Maddox, who remained composed, took the lead and held it with 20 unbroken overhead squats. When the clock timed out at 14 minutes, Maddox—who will level up to the 40-44 Division this year—had 720 reps to Kasperbauer’s 693, each athlete leaving more than 200 reps on the floor.

Castro said he initially didn’t expect any athlete to finish the workout. After watching the masters, he changed his mind, hedging his bets on two-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser.

“He’s the guy I wanna see finish this,” Castro said.

With sweat still streaming from their faces, Maddox and Kasperbauer swapped their jump ropes for headsets to commentate on the second heat, which featured three-time CrossFit Games athlete Travis Williams and Bethany Shadburne (formerly Branham), who took 22nd place as a Games rookie last year.

Heat 2’s athletes might have been younger, but they found the workout no less exacting.

“I had to fight for it, every bit of it,” said Williams, who performed all his double-unders unbroken.

Bethany Shadburne and Travis Williams

Before the event, CrossFit Games partner Airrosti pledged to donate US$2 per rep completed that night to a Hurricane Harvey relief fund dedicated to supporting CrossFit affiliates in Houston. Williams’ 801 reps and Shadburne’s 693 were added to Kasperbauer’s and Maddox’s totals for a donation of nearly $6,000 (to donate, click here).  

You might panic when it’s your turn to wheeze, and you might get confused. Just remember Castro’s parting words for the night:

“It’s Week 3—it’s time to elevate your game, do things you’ve never done before. Cross those obstacles, climb those mountains, and do something new. That’s what the intent is. This type of workout is to push people further than they believe they can go.”