Week Four in Review: Canada East

April 1, 2013

Chris Cooper

Week four in Canada East saw the return of the strongman.
 

Week four in Canada East saw the return of the strongman.

Charles Felx Leduc, who won 13.1 in the region, used another high-repetition Olympic lift to leverage himself over everyone else. His 188 reps in the snatch/burpee workout was unsurpassed, and his 122 reps on the clean and jerk/toes-to-bars ladder wasn’t rivaled.

On 13.2 and 13.3, though, Leduc’s rankings – 21st and ninth, respectively – would seem to indicate the athlete has a preference for simple couplets containing weightlifting exercises. The former competitive strongman may be able to press this advantage even further if the weights increase at Regionals.

Conversely, Jay Rhodes sits a notch above Leduc, trailing only leader Albert-Dominic Larouche in the region. Rhodes has yet to win an event in the Open, but is consistently within the top 10, and knows he’ll have to win events at Regionals.

Canada East’s other 2012 CrossFit Games male competitor, Matthew Lefave, held steady in 10th place after 13.4. He finished the 2012 Open tied for fourth place, and if his training strategy is the same, he’s still building toward his competitive peak.

Meanwhile, Canada East women hold strong positions on the worldwide Leaderboard. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, who finished sixth at the 2012 Games, sits second in the world. Lacey Van Der Marel is in 19th worldwide; Michele Letendre is 24th; and Britney Holmberg is 27th. Four Canadian women ranking among the top 30 overall is a remarkable feat, and should mean an exciting Regional event in Toronto at the end of May.

“Personally, for me, I am feeling great, and have been consistent with doing these Open (workouts) only once so they do not interfere with my regular training,” Holmberg says. “It’s hard keeping up with all the gymnasts! One of us, if not all, plan to give Cami a run for her money.”

George Savard, of CrossFit Firepower, managed to hold onto third place in Masters Men 40-44 in the Region. He used his son for motivation.

"I was competing against my 7-year-old son (scaled) and he was spanking me,” Savard says. “Had to show him his old pops could keep up!”

In Masters Women 55-59 Division, Betty-Lou Mancuso leads the region despite almost missing 13.4. She’s the first to say that strength is not her strength, but her toes-to-bars still gave her a solid score of 56 reps.

CrossFit Laval dropped to third place on 13.4, but front man Matthieu Dubreucq isn’t worried.

“The number of CrossFitters is going up at a really rapid pace that seems to only be matched by the rapid improvement of the level everyone is at,” he says.

The owner of CrossFit Laval, Dubreucq has offered to help any athlete who would prefer to be judged in person by judging them at his gym.

“It’s very impressive to see that a lot of new names are up there,” Dubreucq says. “I can't wait for the Regionals to meet everyone.”