Last year at the inaugural TYR Wodapalooza SoCal, organizers removed an open water swim for all divisions, from the TYR Cup to the Community divisions. The removal was in response to Lazar Đukić’s drowning months earlier at the 2024 CrossFit Games.
Now, a year removed, TYR Wodapalooza is bringing back an open water swim later this month. Workout 4 of the TYR Cup is called “The Four-Leg Relay” and will feature a 300-meter open water swim in the Pacific Ocean off Huntington Beach.
The swim is the first of four elements tested with the remaining including a SkiErg, Echo Row and Beach Run.
For years, open water swimming had become a staple of TYR Wodapalooza Miami as hundreds of athletes each year headed out into the water off Bayfront Park. However, that abruptly stopped last year.
Since that time, CrossFit halted all swimming events in CrossFit-licensed competitions. However, the 2024 Northern California Classic stepped away from its licensed competition with CrossFit to keep its lake swim as part of their event.
Other competitions, such as the 1st Phorm Monster Games, have had swimming, but kept it inside a pool setting.
This will be the first major competition to feature an open water swim since that fateful day back in August 2024. It will, however, only have two athletes in the water during the event, making it much easier to observe and monitor the safety of those competing.
The 2025 TYR Wodapalooza SoCal is in Huntington Beach, California, on September 19-21.
