Alright, the scores are in for the individual portion of the Wodapalooza Online Qualifier. And while the leaderboard could still change as the Wodapalooza team reviews video submissions (of Workouts 1, 4 & 5), it is clear that Workout 4, the 1k Row, will end up being the make or break workout of the online qualifier.
If you aren’t aware, Workout 4 was the first of a two-part workout, combined with Workout 5. Workout 4 was a 1,000-meter row for time. Athletes went straight into Workout 5 which was a long workout featuring wall walks, devils press, box jump overs and wall balls. The score for Workout 4 was the combined time of the row plus all the movements listed above.
To score well and be in a position to qualify, an athlete would have to go hard on the row, but not so hard that the “CrossFit” portion of Workout 5 suffered. The problem is that a 1k row does not have that much separation between elite athletes. Most are going to be within a few seconds of each other, especially when it has to be slightly paced to be able to continue with the rest of the movements afterwards.
Now combine that with those who are out of a qualifying spot, but know they can really improve their positioning by going all-out on the row. Those athletes’ scores slide in between those fighting for a qualifying spot, something Hiller called out yesterday (watch below). This makes every second on the row even more valuable.
And that’s what is why a couple seconds will likely be the reason some athletes are headed to Miami in January and why some will be training at home in the snow.
Let’s take a deeper look at the overall leaderboard and how a few athletes are currently on the outside looking in because of a second or two.
As it stands now, Mirakim Courvrette sits in 20th, the final qualifying spot, on the women’s leaderboard with 263 points. There are 15 women within 60 points of Courvrette.
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For the men, Francis Pelletier is in 20th place with 252 points. Eight men are within 93 points of Pelletier.
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But a closer look at the Workout 4 scores shows that one second (yes, ONE SECOND) could be worth up to 18 points on the men’s leaderboard. A male athlete who rowed 1,000 meters in 3:14 scored 95 points while a time of 3:15 scored 113 points.Â
Now go back and look at the men’s leaderboard. Nikita Yundov is in 24th place with 299 points, 48 behind Pelletier in 20th place. Yundov 1k row was 3:17, good for 133 points. Four seconds faster and he scores 78 points…moving him up to a tie for 13th!
It’s not as severe on the women’s leaderboard as one second was worth up to 9 points. However, 3 seconds is the difference between Nicole Burke sitting in 25th and 20th.
There are always going to be times where a second or a rep is the determining factor of whether an athlete is above or below the cut line of an online qualifier or competition. We have seen it at Regionals back in day and we have seen it in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals just last year. The athlete right below the cut line will almost always be able to find a rep or second here or there that could have edged them one spot higher.
But for the Wodapalooza online qualifier this year, there will be a handful of athletes that will look back at their 1k row and wonder “what-if”.
