This year, participation in the 2017 CrossFit Open by CrossFit AIO athletes was the largest to date. Forty-four members threw down, tested their fitness and battled through 5 workouts (WODs) in 5 weeks. While each WOD had its own test of fitness, we all have that one workout that will be burned in our minds until the next Open. For myself, 17.1 was that workout: 150 dumbbell snatches and 75 burpee box jumps for a total of 20 minutes of pain. Watching AIO members tackle this one was epic. A few highlights for me was watching Paul Silveira set the time to beat for the men and Ana Goncalves matching Paul’s time in the next heat.
17.2 was an entirely different beast: walking lunges and toes to bar followed by high skill bar muscle ups. We saw a few members put their year of practicing muscle ups to work and we happily witnessed Sonia Belfiore and Marco DiMauro attempt and then hit a bar muscle-up.
Week 3 tested all of our strength with an AMRAP ladder of squat snatches and chest to bar pull-ups. Here were two very challenging movements in the same workout. For myself, watching Yoni Levy and Coach Dave Miller both get to the 185lbs snatch set the bar for the day and inspired us all to reach our highest potential.
17.4 was the repeat WOD for 2017. The 55s! A true measurement of CrossFit is to compete against yourself by retesting yourself with the exact same workout and hopefully improving your score from the year before. Every AIO athlete who did this WOD in 2016 improved their score this time around. The highlight for me was watching Magic Mike DiMauro, Jeremy Back and Marco DiMauro all hit a 3-way-
tie with the same score on the rower. It was an incredible display of athleticism and a memory that will stay with me for a long time.
For the final workout, 17.5, most of us had predicted the movements for the WOD. However, we had no idea that we would face 10-rounds of mayhem with thrusters and double-unders. The final workout was for time and pushed everyone to his or her limits with a lot of sweat, exhaustion, success and leg pain. Combining these two exercises was chaos for the lungs and legs, but nevertheless, we saw Sarah Proll and Scott Lampard put up some amazing scores.
By the end of the Open, everyone felt mentally, physically and emotionally tested. Each year, AIO selects a deserving member for our “Spirit of the Open” Award. Whereby we choose a member who participated in the Open, showed great courage, and was a shining example of character, heart and community. This year we awarded it to Erica DiMauro. At the tender age of seventeen, Erica is an inspirational person who motivates, endures and pushes through. Erica recovered from a wrist injury this year and still managed to PR her back squats and cleans, amongst others. Her trademark of kicking off her shoes mid-WOD can be witnessed most days. Her energy is infectious and she has a big heart. We are very excited that she will be pursuing Health Sciences at university next year. She will be a true asset to the field of Health and Performance. We are fortunate to have her as part of our AIO family.
We would also like to acknowledge Sarah Proll for qualifying to the Masters online Regional (40-44). Sarah finished 149th Worldwide and 7th in Canada East region. An amazing feat and well deserved given her consistent hard work, incredible athleticism and unfaltering dedication. We are excited to support her as she advances to the next stage and tackles 5 more workouts for the CrossFit Regional Masters Online Qualifier.
Overall, we would like to thank everyone for coming out to participate, compete and for supporting one another in this year’s 2017 CrossFit Open. We are excited to witness our community grow and continue to challenge themselves by becoming the healthiest and fittest version of themselves.
From all of the coaches and staff at AIO, THANK YOU!! Looking forward to the 2018 Season!
Well done everyone!! It was amazing to see first hand what hard work and determination looks like.