Individuals to swim and swing at Hermosa Beach Pier.
Carson, California—For the fourth year in a row, the CrossFit Games will literally open with a splash.
After teasing athletes at a dinner the night before, Dave Castro finally revealed the details of the first individual event of the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games: The Beach.
Athletes will swim farther than ever before, and they’ll do it as part of a triplet. The surf at the Hermosa Beach Pier will welcome the athletes for a 250-yard swim before they come ashore to perform 50 kettlebell thrusters and 30 burpees. They’ll head back into the waves for a 500-yard swim before completing 30 burpees and 50 kettlebell thrusters. The event ends with another 250 yards in the Pacific.
Athletes swam a total of 500 yards in 25-yard chunks in The Pool in 2013, they swam 700 m in 2012 at Camp Pendleton, and they did the Baywatch thing for 210 m at the Santa Monica Pier in 2011. This year, they’ll swim a total of 1,000 yards.
As of press time, Surfline.com was forecasting “small, gutless surf” and swells of about 0.6 m for Wednesday morning.
Elisabeth Akinwale said she was “super excited” for the event, which reminded her of the SEALFIT training she did earlier this year.
She’s practiced swimming, and she made sure to mix in other workout elements in case couplets or triplets showed up in California.
“If you’ve been paying attention to the sport at all, you should be doing that for sure,” she said.
Given her training and comfort with the water, she plans to push hard on the swim in hopes of getting a lead.
“I think it will be advantageous to be aggressive with the water,” she said.
Tyson Takasaki, a second-year Games competitor, echoed Akinwale’s sentiments.
“It’s kind of what I anticipated,” he said.
He added: “I figured it would be a culmination of what we have done in the past.”
He’s sure the event will hinge on the swim because most competitors are very comfortable with thrusters and burpees, especially after Open Workout 14.5.
Just before the individual announcement, Castro reeled off four events for the teams and added a twist to another.
In a CrossFit Games first, teams will enter the water three different times to push a rescue sled for a total 1,000 yards as a group, using the same course as the individual competitors. Castro, wearing a shirt featuring a shark, was sure to mention a recent attack by a great white at Manhattan Beach. Not to worry—athletes will be swimming at Hermosa Beach, about two miles away, he quipped.
Castro also welcomed two pieces of equipment back to the team competition—with a few upgrades.
The Big Bob was first seen in 2012, when teams were asked to push about 800 lb. of heavy metal 100 yards and then pull it another 100. In true CrossFit fashion, Big Bob is more functional this year. Rogue attached a pull-up bar to the frame, and athletes will do their gymnastics on the rig and advance the sled after each round of Frantasy Land on Friday, adding to their misery while allowing fans to see who’s in the lead.
Moments after Frantasy Land is complete, athletes will push the sled 100 yards in Big Bob 100. The beast returns one final time right after the Deadlift event, and teams will tear up the turf at the StubHub Center for 200 yards to complete Big Bob 200.
Also returning to the Games with mods is the Worm, a segmented log used in last year’s competition. This time around, the Worm is made of sandbags of varying weights, all encased in a sleeve. Loaded by the beast, athletes will get another crack at 2013’s Squat Burpee event: 3 rounds of 30 squats with the Worm shouldered and 30 burpees over the log.
If that wasn’t enough, Castro announced the Worm Sprint: all six team members will sprint 100 yards, and then they’ll sprint 100 yards together with the Worm.
The string of announcements stunned some teams. Sort of. Everyone expects to be blindsided at the Games, so event announcements are much like being told you’ll be punched in the stomach at some point in the next hour.
“Aw, man. It was just typical Dave. It was like CrossFit Santa Claus,” said Jarett Perelmutter of the Brick CrossFit team.
Perelmutter said his squad will be good to go when the teams meet the tides.
“We’re a SoCal team, so anything in the water is OK for us,” said Perelmutter.
Melissa Hurley of Invictus, another SoCal box, displayed the attitude that characterized most of the athletes who made it to the Games for a weekend of surprises: “We prepared for anything that was going to be thrown out.”
There is no parking at Hermosa Beach. You are encouraged to use your fitness to walk or bike to the event.
For complete workout descriptions, click here.