Scandinavian Teams Enter At the Top

May 23, 2012

Ditte Jacobsen & Sarah Lindasdatter Troelsen Krarup

A couple Danes predict a Scandinavian win. 

​Sarah Lindasdatter Troelsen Krarup and Ditte Jacobsen of Team Butcher's Garage weigh in on the upcoming team competition of the 2012 Europe Regional.

The workouts require a lot of strength and skill from every team member.

 

Expect some surprises in the team competition as a number of new up-and-coming teams will be competing for the 1st place spot at the European Regional this year. With three teams from Europe qualifying for the Games, the competition is bound to get intense. It comes as no surprise that Scandinavian teams once again dominated the Open Leaderboard with eight out of the top 10 teams hailing from the region. Iceland, a renowned CrossFit breeding ground, has qualified five incredibly strong teams – three of which are ranked in the top five: CrossFit Reykjavik (1st), CrossFit BC Iceland (2nd), and CrossFit Sport (4th).

Not to be out done, the Swedish teams look quite fierce, as well. Five Swedish teams have qualified for Regionals, with three ranked in the top 10: CrossFit Nordic 1 - 3rd, CrossFit Solid - 5th, and CrossFit Malmö The Other Guys - 8th. 

Five Danish teams will participate on their home field in Copenhagen, Denmark for the first time. Two of those teams, CrossFit Butcher’s Lab and CrossFit Butcher’s Garage, finished the Open ranked 6th and 7th, respectively. The new teams from CrossFit Nordvest and the Spartan Warriors are poised to turn heads after both finishing in 11th place in the open, making for a tie in the region. 

Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be sending a strong contingent of teams to the European Regional this year. Teams to be reckoned with this year include Dragon CrossFit (9th), CrossFit Bath (10th), and CrossFit Leeds (15th). 

Individual athletes’ performances should not be forgotten. Almost all teams that qualified have had strong individual athletes who have been gathering points for them. Moreover, the Regional workouts have a distinct flavor to them, and are very hard in comparison to the Open workouts. With the introduction of new skills, exercises and scaling such as the partner deadlift, single-arm dumbbell snatch, static holds and 225-pound hang cleans, the door is wide open for all teams to smash these workouts. The workouts require a lot of strength and skill from every team member, and the top three teams who qualify for the 2012 Games will be the three strongest and fastest teams – and most likely all from Scandinavia.

We’ve spoken to CrossFit Nordvest (Denmark, 11th), CrossFit Reykjavik (Iceland, 1st) and to CrossFit Butcher’s Lab (Denmark, 6th) about the Regional workouts. 

For CrossFit Nordvest, this will be their first time competing at Regionals. The team has been focusing on Olympic weightlifting, power lifting and building strength and skills. The team is excited about workout six at Regionals. Focusing on Olympic lifting has turned out to be a smart move, and Workout 5 can easily be a game changer for many teams.

CrossFit Reykjavik finished 1st in the Open this year. The team members have been focusing on strength, skills and endurance training, weekly team training and team-building sessions. The team is thrilled about all the Regional workouts and are convinced they’ll perform best in Workout 3.

CrossFit Butcher’s Lab is a new, fierce team from Denmark. The team consists of strong, highly skilled and confident CrossFitters. They expect to win workouts two, three, four and six – so watch out for Team Butcher’s Lab, as they could easily be the team to beat.