Fittest Seated Man, Tom Miazga, On Juggling It All While Pursuing CrossFit Greatness

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Learn more about the Fittest Seated Man on Earth, Tom Miazga, as he celebrates winning his eighth consecutive title.

• What would happen if Brent Fikowski and Pat Vellner could swap their first and last event finishes at the CrossFit Games? Would either of them have topped the podium? (And, how would Mat Fraser have fared against a super-Canadian hybrid of Vellner and Fikowski in 2017?)

• John Singleton and The Progrm have their eyes on the future of competitive CrossFit with the “Crown Series.” Get the details below.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I never even intended to join CrossFit for a competitive reason in the first place. I had retired from my professional swimming career and was just looking to keep my body moving and enjoy a community atmosphere. And I just found myself completely engrossed in CrossFit because I was just learning so much more about myself than I ever expected.” - Tom Miazga, eight-time Fitted Seated Man on Earth

CROSSFIT GAMES — ADAPTIVE

Fittest Seated Man on Earth and Paralympian, Tom Miazga, Juggling Life and CrossFit

Tom Miazga’s titles include paralympic swimmer, coach, friend, and now eight-time Fittest Seated Man on Earth. 

• He’s recently added broadcaster to the list of talents and is figuring out how to balance his work and fitness. 

The 2024 Adaptive CrossFit Games by WheelWOD was held in San Antonio, TX, this past weekend. 

Miazga returned for an eighth time to defend his title in the “Seated with Hip Function” Adaptive division. This was the first year WheelWOD hosted the CrossFit Games; in previous years, the WheelWOD Games served as the end-of-season championship for Adaptive divisions not hosted by CrossFit. 

This year, WheelWOD expanded the overall field from eight divisions to 15. 

Some Background

Miazga, who lives in Cedarburg, WI, didn’t come into CrossFit thinking he’d be a competitive athlete but was pleasantly surprised to find that he was quite good at the sport. 

• “I never even intended to join CrossFit for a competitive reason in the first place. I had retired from my professional swimming career and was just looking to keep my body moving and enjoy a community atmosphere,” Miazga told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview. “And I just found myself completely engrossed in CrossFit because I was just learning so much more about myself than I ever expected.”

Miazga has competed in the CrossFit Open since 2017 and has taken first place in his division every year, including 2024.

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SPEED READS

🤓💪 Greg Glassman “Returns”: On the Constantly Varied Conversations podcast, John Wooley discussed the announcement of Greg Glassman’s new venture, “MetFix.” Learn all about it here.

😎🏆 Team North America Wins Inaugural TYR Cup: When the dust settled yesterday, it was Team North America on top, 7-6, over Team World.

• Both teams entered the final day tied at 4-4, but Team North America rattled off three straight wins to start the day and clinch the victory before the final event started. Get caught up on live stream coverage and check back this week for our recaps and takeaways.

🧑‍💻👩‍💻 PRVN Fitness is Hiring: Are you a content and media guru? The PRVN Fitness team is looking for a full-time photo/video specialist to join the team based in Nashville, TN. Applications are now open — learn more and send relevant content work and resumes here.

🏋️☀️The Fittest Experience Online Qualifier: The Fittest Experience (TFX) Online Qualifier kicks off soon, and there’s still time to get in on the action! Participation is open to the entire community in 30+ divisions: Pro, RX, Intermediate, Rookie, Masters, Teens, Teams, young athletes, and athletes looking to test their fitness against the leaderboard.

• The qualifier takes place September 25-October 8, and top athletes will qualify for the TFX Championship in January 2025 in Austin, TX. Learn more.

💪📋 Rogue Invitational Update — “The C”: Athletes can compete in this community challenge through the month of September. Registration is open now. Learn more here.

ICYMI: Alec Smith is the most recent and highest-profile CrossFit Games athlete to sign on with a United Grid League team, joining the Daytona Beach Venom for the remainder of the season.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

What If Canadian Veterans Patrick Vellner and Brent Fikowski Could Swap Event Finishes at the CrossFit Games?

When the CrossFit Games come around, one of the statements you will no doubt hear from commentators is that Patrick Vellner usually performs poorly in the first event. 

We have also seen in recent years, Brent Fikowski struggle in the final event of the Games. 

• Because it’s the off-season, it’s fun to speculate a little. 

Looking back on past leaderboards, we were curious to see what would have happened if we swapped scores and gave Fikowski’s Event 1 scores to Vellner, and Vellner’s final event scores to Fikowski. 

Patrick Vellner

Patrick Vellner has been to the CrossFit Games nine times as an individual. 

In those nine trips, his Event 1 finish was better than his average finish just twice (2016 and 2019). In those two years, Vellner had a top-10 finish in the first event. 

• In the other 7 years, Vellner has averaged a 28th-place finish in the first event.

Brent Fikowski, on the other hand, has six top-ten finishes in Event 1 during those nine years, including his event win in "Run Swim Run" in 2017.

COMPETITIONS

The Progrm’s New “Crown Series” Seeks to Help Teen Competitors Build Their Athletic Careers

Over Easter weekend in April 2024, the third iteration of The Progrm’s The Crown concluded, crowning Icelandic teens Bjarni Leifs and Bergros Bjornsdottir after the four-day competition held at the “Nike Castle” in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 

The weekend featured teens competing against each other and forming friendships and core memories with fellow competitors. This led The Progrm’s founder and event organizer, John Singleton, to think of ways to grow the event. 

• “This has been a passion project,” Singleton told Morning Chalk Up in an interview, “and I was challenged on how to make it grow and how to make it sustainable.” 

Singleton collaborated with the organizers of the Madrid Fitness Festival to plan a new installment in the competition series, held in Madrid, Spain. 

• By utilizing other competitions as a vehicle to host a multi-part series, Singleton saw that The Crown could grow and serve more young athletes. 

Thus, the “Crown Series” was born. 

HIGHLIGHTS

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

• Happy anniversary to Tiffany and Michael Craven.

• Congratulations to Fran from CrossFit Queretaro in Costa Rica on this 165-kilo/365-pound clean.

• Happy belated 12th birthday to Ron and Amari from Core City CrossFit in Detroit, MI.

• Congratulations to Pat Vellner, who won the Lazar Ðukić MVP award at the TYR Wodapalooza SoCal TYR Cup.

• Congratulations to Luca Cerutti and Libby Schoepf from CrossFit Mill Street, who took first and second, respectively, in the 13-15 Teen Boys and Girls divisions at TYR Wodapalooza SoCal.