2015 CrossFit Open Review
What an unbelievable Open we had this year. In years passed at CSP the Open wasn’t really centre to our thought’s as, as the gym was in it’s infancy, our priorities centred more around training, coaching and growing our gym and community. The few guy’s that had been here from the beginning tested themselves by doing the Open WOD’s, but aside from in-house and a couple of local competitions, CrossFit on the worldwide competition scale wasn’t at the forefront of our minds and we certainly weren’t pushing members to enter workout’s that were a lot of the time beyond their athletic capabilities. This year has definitely changed all that, with both the drive of the members of the gym and the inclusion of a scaled division, which we will touch on later.
For the 2015 CrossFit Open we had in total 14 members register to compete and finish all five Open workouts: We had 1 RX’d athlete, with 6 male scaled athletes, 5 female scaled athlete’s, 1 male master’s scaled athlete and 1 female masters scaled athlete. Among those we finished with a top 4 place in Ireland RX’d, a top 3 in Ireland and top 20 in Europe finish in scaled male, a 1st place in Europe & Ireland and 5th place worldwide in scaled female, a top 3 in Ireland and 15th in Europe in scaled masters male and a top 4 in Ireland and top 20 in Europe finish in scaled masters female. Apart from the one RX’d athlete this was the first CrossFit Open for almost all of these competitor’s and we couldn’t have been more proud of how well they all did.
If CrossFit give’s everybody the chance to be an athlete, then the scaled division has absolutely magnified that. In almost all of sport there is an entry level, an amateur scene to work your way through the ranks, learning the skills and drills necessary and experience to compete in the pro’s. With CrossFit, before this year, this chance wasn’t afforded athletes, at least not officially. Sure you can scale workouts, you can have in-house competitions and local events that tailor more to that level of competitor but nothing comes as close as amplifying the collective competitive feeling that an event such as the CrossFit Open does, an event for which previously you either did, or did not have, the adequate strength and/or skills to get through.
For the majority of those registering this year the scaled divisions were a great first step to furthering their potential down the line. If this was your first year competing and you were one of those guy’s on the brink of going RX’d but there was a few movements you knew would come up in the RX’d division, and/or some weights you knew would be too heavy, our advice was to go scaled and do your best, get a feel for competition and the unique intricacies only it can bring, and use what you learned during the 5 weeks to prepare for next year. How well you did would determine both where your training needs to be focused going forward and whether or not to take the next step to the bigger leagues.
For a lot doing the Scaled divisions it was their first time competing in anything! It was amazing to see these guy’s battle through every last set and rep with their fellow competitors and gym members urging them on. The buzz about CrossFit gyms during an Open is on another level and it is something also very unique to this community. It is what differentiates us from the rest. Everybody that felt that is yearning for more and those that witnessed it want in. It is definitely a powerful thing. The beauty of competition is that, aside from testing you mentally (which is huge), it show’s your physical limitations with regards the movements and tests put before you and so where you can and should focus your time if entering in coming years is the goal.
It was amazing to witness some of the top Irish athletes battling it out and the calibre of athlete is only improving here. Two RX’d males finished in the top 70 athletes in Europe and I have no doubt in my mind we will be seeing Irish male athletes at Regionals in the next 2-3 years. The females one again beasted it with Emma McQuaid finishing an unbelievable 6th place in Europe and unfortunately Hillary Riordan from Guerrilla Fitness just missing out, finishing just outside the top 30. That would have been two Regionals on the trot for her and I’ve no doubt she’ll be back there again as well.
Aside from the RX’d athletes there was some savage finishes from the scaled Irish competitor’s with multiple top 5 finishes across the board in Europe. Special mention to our own Shauna Kearns who finished 1st in Ireland & Europe and 5th place Worldwide! Unreal achievement. With the experience gained in these divisions it can only lead to a better and more well rounded level of athlete once they do go RX’d, which is a massive positive.
For everybody the Open is a time to have fun, compete and see where you place in the big bad world of CrossFit competition. For some it will shine a glaring light at their weaknesses as they seek to improve and become the best competitive CrossFitter they can. But for most, it will simply be a time to acknowledge how far they have come personally and how great a community they have decided to commit their fitness journey to.
We cannot wait to see what next year brings!
#TeamCSP
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