NorCal Classic Partners with PFAA, Approves Open-Water Swim Plan

In partnership with

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• The Northern California Classic will host an open-water swim in its September event. Event organizer Blair Morrison talked with us about the decision to go forward with the swim and the NorCal Classic’s partnership with the Professional Fitness Athletes’ Association.

• Grief has been a primary topic of conversation in the CrossFit community for the past few weeks. Today, Training Think Tank nutrition coach Tracy Tucker provides some helpful tips for managing your nutrition or even using it to help you cope during tough times.

• The Masters CrossFit Games kicks off this weekend. Check out our programming preview below.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Our community is looking for examples of how best to prevent another tragedy like this in the future. I guess we are hoping that by setting an example of repeatable safety standards, while at the same time giving athletes the option to opt out of the swim without disqualification, we are providing enough leeway for everyone to make their own decision based on what they need.” - Blair Morrison, Event Organizer, Northern California Classic

COMPETITION

Northern California Classic Partners With PFAA to Approve Open Water Swim Event

The Northern California Classic has partnered with the Professional Fitness Athletes’ Association (PFAA) to review and approve the “approximately” 200-300-meter swim event planned for this September’s competition.

• “Knowing that we have the support of the athletes gives us confidence that we are making the right decision,” event organizer Blair Morrison told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview. “At the end of the day, without the athletes, there is no NorCal Classic…so we need to continue to work together.” 

Remind me: The NorCal Classic is a three-day functional fitness competition that has been running since 2019. This year, it will be held on September 6-8 in Granite Bay, CA.

Why this matters: This partnership comes in the aftermath of Lazar Đukić’s drowning death during Event 1 at the 2024 CrossFit Games on August 8.

• Since then, CrossFit suspended all swimming events at CrossFit licensed events.

Though the NorCal Classic isn’t a CrossFit-licensed event, Morrison wanted to turn to the PFAA for approval.

• “Open water swimming has been a part of our event each of the last two years, and we felt good about our systems, [but considering recent events] we decided to put our plan in front of experts outside of our backyard to get their feedback,” Morrison said. “Once we got their seal of approval, that made the decision easier to make.”

He added: “The last thing we wanted was to appear callous in the face of CrossFit’s efforts to ensure safety measures were taken seriously going forward.”

The Daily Newsletter for Intellectually Curious Readers

• We scour 100+ sources daily

• Read by CEOs, scientists, business owners and more

• 3.5 million subscribers

Sign up today!

SPEED READS

Behind the Scenes of the 2024 CrossFit Games: Two-times Games champ Justin Medeiros talks through this 2024 CrossFit Games experience.

• He provides good insight into his friendship/friendly rivalry with Lazar Ðukić, the conflicting emotions and confusion athletes felt surrounding the decision to continue the Games, and what it was like returning to the competition floor.

Buttery Bros 2024 CrossFit Games Doc: Every season, the CrossFit community excitedly awaits the Buttery Bros’ take on the Games. And while “excited” is not the right word in this case, anticipation was high.

• Check out “Tragedy at the CrossFit Games // 2024 Documentary” now and make sure to stick around to the end for a very touching tribute to Lazar Ðukić.

Rounding Out the TYR Cup Rosters: On Friday, Brian and PC at B.Friendly Fitness spoke with some of the TYR Cup team captains and revealed the captains’ picks. Here are the finalized rosters for TYR WZA SoCal:

• Team North America

  • Patrick Vellner (c) | Danielle Brandon (c)
    Jeffrey Adler | Arielle Loewen
    Justin Medeiros | Alexis Raptis
    Dallin Pepper | Emily Rolfe

• Team World

  • Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson (c) | Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr (c)
    Guilherme Malheiros | Seher Kaya
    Brent Fikowski | Emma Tall
    Aniol Ekai | Grace Walton

Divisional Games First Workouts Announced: The 2024 Masters CrossFit Games by Legends and the 2024 Teenage Crossfit Games by Pit Teen Throwdown released all their workouts for their upcoming events. The Masters will take on 10 tests, while the Teens will take on seven.

Lazar Ðukić Support Funds have been set up here and here for those who are able to give.

ICYMI: Canadian Games veteran Emily Rolfe achieved her long-term goal of earning a podium spot at the CrossFit Games, but it came in the wake of tragedy. She talked with us about her experience through it all.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

How to Adjust Your Nutrition During Times of Grief

With the recent tragedy at this year’s CrossFit Games, grief has been a big topic of discussion. 

Understanding how to move forward and proceed with your nutrition can be challenging when you might not feel like you even have the energy to pay attention to it.

First things first, after a moment of tragedy or trauma, you will want to feel safe in your environment again. 

Grief is a heavy feeling and you need time to process it healthily. There are lots of different stress management techniques you can do to help you process some of your emotions and feelings:

• Speak to a professional 

• Help create change or offer support — Can you be a voice for change or offer support to others who may be struggling right now too?

• Meditation — If you’re new to this, consider downloading the Calm or HeadSpace app. Both offer a free week and then there is a monthly or annual subscription charge.

• Journaling — If you’re unsure of what to write about, use one of these writing prompts to get you started. 

• Yoga or breathing exercises — 8 Breathing Exercises You Can Try Right Now

When it comes to your nutrition there are a ton of paths you can take and just because you adjust your nutrition for the next short period, doesn’t mean it will look like this forever — it’s simply to help you sustain what you can do through this trying time to help you stay on your current course. Here are a few options. 

CROSSFIT GAMES

2024 Masters CrossFit Games by Legends — Programming Preview

The 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games begin later this week in Birmingham, AL, featuring the fittest age group individual athletes in the sport participating in their end-of-season championship competition. 

The details: The event goes from August 29 to September 1 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center. 

• Athletes will be put through 10 events over four days, according to the Legends Instagram post.

It was announced earlier this year that CrossFit HQ would separate the “Divisional Games” — the age group and adaptive athletes CrossFit Games — from the elite individual and team competition. 

HQ looked to other major competitions to take over coordination and execution of the Divisional Games for these individuals: WheelWOD will run the Adaptive Games, the Pit Teen Throwdown took over the Teenage CrossFit Games, and the Legends took on the Masters Games. 

• Part of HQ’s reasoning for separating these athletes was to expand the field, which the Legends Masters Games has done by taking the top 40 athletes of each division to their championship and trialing a new division of 70-plus athletes. 

The Legends released all of the workouts, which include some very classic movements and “old-school” style programming — simple, elegant, and brutal. 

The list of workouts can be found here. However, we’ve pulled out three that represent the programming’s best and gave a closer look. 

HIGHLIGHTS

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

• 🎂Happy belated birthday (8/27) to Mat Fraser and Sammy Moniz’s daughter, Eddy.

• Nice work to Carolyne Prevost on the 181-kilo/400-pound deadlift.

• Great work to all the kids at Core City CrossFit in Detroit, MI, on their heavy back squats lately.

• Nice job to Olympic bronze medalist Hampton Morris on completing the Rogue Challenge.

• 🏆Congratulations to everyone who podiumed at the BCS Classic last weekend in College Station, TX.