Congrats to Sean Patrick
Starting from the end, shout out to Sean on his third year at the CrossFit Games, coming away with a third straight medal. Standing on top the podium is rare, but to do it three consecutive times is quite a special thing not many have or will ever know.
A couple notable things on Sean’s journey this year. This was easily his most challenging climb with lifestyle factors playing a role for the first time (exec taking company to IPO), limiting his ability to train, sleep, and manage stress the way he has in years past. He also faced his toughest set of opponents at the CrossFit Games - 29 beasts that have incredible talents that meant anyone at anytime was a threat which was a bit of a new situation to previous years where we knew the handful to watch for. Last, the programming was by far the most challenging of his career in competition, but he stood tall against it and shined bright.
Sean walked away easily the fittest and most complete an athlete he’s been to date, and if he chooses to continue, there’s no doubt he can continue to climb the ladder of mastery in our sport.
-Chris
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The Athletes
If you need some inspiration - to see what humans of any age are capable of - come to the Age Group CrossFit Games. We saw 70+ folks complete legless rope climbs, pistols, and muscle-ups smoothly inside hard hitting workouts.
A 14 year old girl clean and jerked TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY POUNDS.
I watched a 14 year old boy win the 7k run (27min and change!) across every division, including the 35-39M which contained 5 Indy Games veterans and several professional runners from the other divs.
Sean had many major milestones, including a 15# PR on his clean and jerk to take the event win at 270#. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him power clean that before..
I definitely came away energized by the future ~ we aren’t destined to age and decline, we just have to choose to pursue growth and do what it takes to resist father time.
The Competition
Going into competition week, I’ll be honest ~ I was not looking forward to the event. Since the separation of Indy from Age Groupers, I had been staunchy opposed to the move and simply stayed in it for the love of helping athletes get to the top.
I have to admit, after experiencing this past weekend on-site, I’ve come full circle and couldn’t agree more with the approach.
The experience for athlete, coach, and family/spectators was head-and-shoulders better than the Madison days.
The event is more intimate and every person there is tuned into what’s going on with their particular athlete, his/her division, and the story that’s unfolding over the events and days. This makes for a super exciting live event experience with loud cheering and horse races where athletes can hear their coach on the field and look-up to see their loved ones cheering them on to get them thru a tough moment.
After seeing it all play out, shout-out to the programming. Things were layed out that definitely found the fittest and allowed for some extremely exciting leaderboard shifts happen live for all of us to see. There were back-and-forth gut punches, athletes trading leads, and huge fails no one saw coming, and even a few come-from-behind stories that all played out for us to appreciate as fans of the sport.
In short, if you have an athlete on the floor, come to the Games and support them live. You’ll have a blast, guaranteed.
Last Bit
OK, so gotta share my proudest coaching moment. It starts back at Sean’s first Games in 2022 in Madison.
Mid-weekend, there’s a 20 Ring Muscle-Up for time workout, 5 minute cap I believe. He’s a rookie but has worked these a bit (he was getting programming from another camp but I coached him live).
He was unable to complete the work while several of his peers performed this unbroken. I remember clearly how unhappy he was standing for the reset while they prepared to hit the next movement series. That one stuck with me as something I wanted to help him improve.
So, we work RMUs more than anyone I know or have seen at his age group. Weeks of progressions, thousands of reps. In fact, I had him do my progressions and hate to admit he’s now better than me (that’s why he’s a 3-time podium guy!) which is borderline unfair =)
Fast forward to Saturday night - 5 rounds of 6 RMU, 9 OHS, 12 BJO and wow did Sean put on a fucking show. Smoothest, tightest muscle-ups across the 45+, possibly entire age group floor. His competitors looked rickety and uncomfortable on the rings where as Sean thrived, moving 6s like they were 2s. The Sean from 2022 would’ve completed 3, maybe 4 rounds. This year’s Sean fought hard, going back and forth with the division leader, getting 2nd on the event, something a guy his size should not be doing with short guy movements.
Its a testament to the work he’s willing to put in, both in the gym doing the work, and outside the gym stretching, mobilizing, and preparing his body to move well when it counts.
I don’t like to take credit for many things an athlete does, but I think I’ll have to take a sliver here for the big turnaround and couldn’t be more proud of the dramatic shift we made. I’m grateful the games brought in more complex, challenging movements to give him a chance to show himself and the world what’s he’s capable of and how we turn weaknesses into strengths with hard work and hustle.
All right, that’s all I’ve got for now, will update as a living doc if more come to mind.
-Chris
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