2025 TYR WZA Miami Beach Preview

January 20th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • TYR WZA week is here! Check out our event preview and who to watch in the elite individual and team divisions.

  • Does your affiliate need better management? Check for these eight warning signs.

  • Rachelle Williams suffered a freak accident that caused spinal cord damage. Her CrossFit 703 community in Burke, VA, stepped up to raise money for her medical expenses, but they continue to mount. Learn how you can help.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I want people to do CrossFit and go to the gym and have the same joy I did. I miss my old life more than anything. I miss being there every day, uplifting each other. It’s so vital to your life and your mental health. That’s what I miss most.” - Rachelle Williams on her mindset, post-spinal cord injury.

COMPETITIONS

Credit: Enrique Villaseñor

2025 TYR Wodapalooza Preview: Who to Watch

The 13th annual TYR Wodapalooza is quickly approaching, set to take place at its new location in Miami Beach, Florida, Thursday, January 23 through Sunday, January 26. 

  • Over the years, the fitness festival has grown in size tremendously, adding athletes, spectators, divisions, and money to the prize purse. 

The 2025 TYR Wodapalooza Miami will host over 1,500 athletes competing in 48 divisions. 

  • The $567,000 prize purse in 2025 is the largest it’s ever been, coming in at $62,000 more than last year’s event.

Over the last few years, elite athletes have had the opportunity to compete in both the individual and team divisions, with many of the athletes opting to do so. This year, in what has become the norm, elite individuals will compete on Thursday and Friday, with elite teams competing on Saturday and Sunday. 

Remind Me

Last year’s Elite Male podium finished with Ricky Garad in first place, Brent Fikowski in second, and Sam Kwant in third. Emma Cary won the Elite Female Division, with Gabi Migała in second and Danielle Brandon in third. 

On the team side, Team Go Wod won for the men, made up of Justin Medeiros, Jay Crouch, and Willy Georges. Stronger than a 90s Trend won for the women, with a roster featuring Kelsey Kiel, Emelie Lundberg, and Kelly Baker.

  • Like every year, all of the Elite Division rosters are completely stacked. 

A MESSAGE FROM NOCCO

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SPEED READS

🏋️ 💪 Follow the 2025 Arnold on Barbend: The 2025 Arnold Sports Festival is a little over a month away and will feature some of the biggest bodybuilding and strongman competitions of the year. Keep up with all the latest news and event previews by subscribing to The BarBend Newsletter.

🙌 🙏 Additional Fundraiser for Los Angeles CrossFit Community: Members and owners of CrossFit Altadena lost their homes in the recent wildfires that raged through several neighborhoods in Los Angeles. They have started a GoFundMe campaign for those who can help. 

🚨🚨CrossFit Open Registration is LIVE: The 2025 CrossFit Open will take place February 27-March 17, so get signed up now!

  • Bundle and save on 2025 CrossFit Open shirts and Judges course registration here.

📈📉 Fran Lung Analytics Prize Purse Tracker: CrossFit is betting heavily on the community to fund the 2025 CrossFit Games by tying the prize purse to Open registration. Check out this real-time prize purse tracker from our friends up North, Fran Lung Analytics. And give them a follow for lots of great data and breakdowns.

📊🗓️ Known and Knowable Open Registration Tracker: From now through the Open, Known and Knowable will provide daily numbers and year-over-year comparisons for Open registrations. Follow here.

ICYMI: We take a deep dive into how the 2025 CrossFit Games prize purse will work and who stands to gain and lose.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @besthouroftheirday / Instagram

8 Warning Signs Your Affiliate Operations Need Better Management

As affiliate owners, we're passionate about changing lives through fitness. But even with the best of intentions, affiliates can struggle if key operations aren't properly managed.

Inefficient systems, inconsistent coaching, and a lack of accountability can quietly destroy your business (and possibly your sanity).

As part of our series on staff development, we uncovered some warning signs you need to be on the lookout for. 

They are:

1. Classes feel crowded and chaotic.

Limited space isn't always the issue.

  • Disorganized class setup, unclear directions from coaches, and lack of systems often lead to dysfunction.

Take time to map out optimal equipment layouts and teach coaches how to run efficient classes.

2. Coaches operate inconsistently.

Your coaches are the heart of your service, so they must all be on the same page.

  • Invest heavily in developing your coaches through ongoing training, mentorship, and clear performance expectations.

Consistent coaching means a consistently great member experience.

COMMUNITY

Courtesy of Rachelle Williams

Rachelle Williams Suffers Spinal Cord Injury, CrossFit 703 Community Raises $70,000 and Counting for Medical Expenses

After finding CrossFit 703 in Burke, VA, two years ago, Rachelle Williams said she “basically never left.”

The gym quickly became the 42-year-old retired U.S. Air Force member’s second home, and she became obsessed with the progress she was making.

But then, on April 24, 2024, while snatching a weight that wasn’t “amazingly impressive,” Williams dropped the weight on her head and broke her neck.

Williams underwent a spinal fusion and spent a month in the hospital, but the damage was considerable. Today, Williams is a quadriplegic with limited use of her arms and no use of her hands. 

  • “The injury is considered incomplete, which means I still have sensory feeling in the majority of my body, but I don’t have motor control,” she explained. 

Eight months later, Williams, a mother of four young children, including twins, admits it has been incredibly difficult to cope.

What has saved her has been her faith in Jesus and her support system, including the CrossFit 703 community.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

  • 😳Check out these weighted burpee box jump-overs from Grid League! Oof! 

  • Congratulations to 55-year-old Hilde Dosogne, a Belgian runner who just became the first woman to run a marathon every day for an entire year. 

  • Nice job to South Korea’s Jimoo Son on this 122-kilo/270-pound hang snatch.

  • Congratulations to Jon William on this hang clean PR of 162.5 kilos/358 pounds.

  • 🏋️‍♀️Great work, Able, of Rose Barbell Club in New Hampshire, on all the snatch practice and accessories, leading to a new PR! Well done!