"Lake Day," A Timeline

September 4th, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Over the last few weeks, athletes and spectators have posted stories, pictures, and videos that, taken together, begin to paint a picture of events before, during, and after “Lake Day.” Mike Halpin, the creator behind Known & Knowable, has assembled the publicly available materials, as well as some additional first-hand accounts and his own photo/video record, into a thoroughly documented timeline. See more below.

  • Jason Ackerman and Jason Fernandez, CF-L4 coaches and co-founders of “Best Hour of Their Day,” offer seven steps to growing your affiliate membership.

  • You might remember a scary moment at the Oceania Semifina when athlete Zac Thomas collapsed following the first event. Check his update below and a few words of awareness for his fellow competitors.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It was a pretty horrible month, to be honest.” - Australian Zac Thomas on the diagnosis process following his WD from the Oceania Semifinal

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: Mike Halpin, @known_knowable / Instagram

A Timeline of 2024 CrossFit Games Event 1: “Lake Day,” Introduction

On August 8th at 7 a.m. CT, the first event of the 2024 CrossFit Games kicked off, starting with a 3.5 mile run around Marine Creek Lake followed by a 800m swim across the lake to the other side.

Individual Event 1, “Lake Day”

For time:

  • 3.5-mile run

  • 800-meter swim

Time cap: None 
Presented by: ROKA Eyewear

At approximately 7:38 a.m., during the final 250 feet of the swim portion of Event 1, Lazar Ðukić went under the water and did not come back up. 

—

Over the last few weeks, athletes and spectators have posted stories, pictures, and videos that, taken together, begin to paint a picture of events before, during, and after “Lake Day.” 

This article is an effort to document and reconstruct, to the best of my ability, the events that occurred on August 8, 2024, at Marine Creek Lake. 

Everything contained herein is supported by verifiable fact or direct eyewitness testimony.

What follows, however, is NOT the third-party investigation being conducted by Peter Edge.

There is no conclusive statement or editorialization, this is an effort to provide information to the public that we have on hand. 

To reconstruct this timeline, I have anchored everything below to the event clock, the official chip times of athletes coming in, and time stamps on photos and video. 

  • Disclaimer: For many, this was a traumatic event, and the recounting of these stories may be troubling for some to read. These accounts, documents, and media are being shared to illuminate what occurred. If you need someone to talk to, the CrossFit Medical Society has set up resources to speak to a mental health specialist in your area.

—

Timeline of Event 1

I spoke with two volunteers (a CrossFit Games judge and an athlete control volunteer), who at this time wish to remain anonymous. 

The anonymous judge stated that before the event (August 7), the judges were assembled as a whole and then split into five smaller groups, labeled A-E. 

  • Judges from groups C, D, and E were assigned to cover Individual Event 1: “Lake Day.”  

During the judge assignment process for “Lake Day,” the Games team asked judges from groups C, D, and E to volunteer (by a show of hands) for either the run portion or the swim portion of the event.

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SPEED READS

🎬🎥 Behind the Scenes of the 2024 CrossFit Games: Noah Ohlsen, the 10-time Games competitor and captain of 2024’s third-place team, talks through his 2024 CrossFit Games experience.

🎙️🔈Constantly Varied Conversations: In his most recent video, John Wooley provides an assessment of Dave Castro’s performance, both his achievements and challenges. Listen here.

😎🏆 TYR Wodapalooza SoCal Update: The team at Loud and Live is rolling out both community and TYR Cup workouts. Check them out now.

💪📋 Rogue Invitational Update — “The Q”: Athletes can compete in this online qualifier to earn a spot in the Individual competition at the 2024 Rogue Invitational. Registration is open and the competition starts tomorrow. Learn more here.

ICYMI: It’s tough to call it an “offseason,” but we broke down some of the major competitions between now and the 2025 CrossFit Open.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @welcome_to_the_mill / Instagram

7 Steps to Boost Your CrossFit Affiliate’s Membership: Creating a Sales Process That Works

Are you struggling to convert leads into loyal members at your CrossFit affiliate? 

You're not alone. 

Many affiliate owners who come to us at Best Hour of Their Day find themselves in the same situation, dumping valuable time, energy, and effort into marketing and lead generation only to see potential members wander away without signing up. 

  • This common challenge often stems from the lack of a well-structured sales process. 

Without a clear, effective strategy for guiding prospects from initial interest to regular membership, you're likely missing out on countless opportunities to grow your affiliate and impact more lives. 

But fear not — implementing the following seven steps can optimize your sales process and unlock the membership growth you’ve been working toward.

A MESSAGE FROM NASM

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PROFILE

Photo credit: @zacthomas18 / Instagram

Australia’s Zac Thomas Provides Update on Cardiac Episode at Semifinals; Seeks to Raise Awareness

Australia’s Zac Thomas was a legitimate contender for a ticket to the Games at the Oceania Semifinal by Torian Pro, but a cardiac episode in Event 1 took him out of contention. Thomas was left searching for answers as to the root cause of his terrifying ordeal.

The Morning Chalk Up caught up with Thomas to see how his recovery has been going since his medical withdrawal from the Torian Pro. 

When we last caught up with Thomas, he was about to start his month of heart monitoring with the goal of trying to induce another cardiac event:

  • “I had a cord across my chest for a month. It was a pretty horrible month, to be honest,” he said. “Two-times a week I would try and bring on an attack of SVT which is what we initially thought it was.” 

After a month of intensive heart monitoring and trying to replicate the conditions needed to induce an attack, the results didn’t confirm or deny SVT. 

  • However, Thomas’s cardiologist believes that Thomas suffers from something completely different as he explains: “He thinks it’s more of a low blood pressure issue called vasovagal syncope.” 

Thomas’ doctor believes that he had the perfect storm to bring on vasovagal syncope when he was competing at the Torian Pro in May. 

HIGHLIGHTS

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