Viking Wars 2015

The setting for the 2015 Viking Wars Crossfit competition was City 4051 CrossFit’s sports complex at Newmarket. It’s the most amazing space to work in, with a large floor area for the thruster ladder and two large rigs for pull ups and toes to bar in the chipper WOD, a huge sand pit for the leg-burning sandbag shuttle run, and lastly, a large area for the final WOD which included a 100kg prowler push.

The Viking Wars introductory video outlining the first WOD set the scene for what was going to be four very fun team orientated WODS. If you did not see it, check it out it is worth a look. What the videos did not show was just how hard the 96 teams comprised of two males and two females had to work. Three of the WOD’s were specifically set up for team participation, and some team tactics so a smart team with a good mix of members could do well, not just a strong team.

Everyone I spoke with agreed that the sand WOD was the hardest of the four, and some even said it was the hardest WOD they had ever done. Some of the pain faces I saw during the WOD were the worst I have seen.

Team “Please Make it Heavy” from CrossFit Unrest won both the first and fourth WOD’s which made them the overall winner on the day. Second place was taken by a team that travelled almost 800km to get to the comp. – “Raw Commando” from CrossFit Raw Commando in Singleton, NSW. There was a tie for third place, “Live Elite One” from Live Elite CrossFit and “Pillaging Unicorns” from CrossFit Brisbane.


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 

Clash on the Coast 2015

68 teams made their way to the Clash on the Coast 2015 run by Coastal CrossFit in Kawana, it was a beautiful day with lots of sun and not a cloud in the sky! The event was broken into 4 WOD’s two indoor with weights and two outdoor that were mainly body weight, but all of them had one common theme, they relied on part or all of the team to complete the WOD.

My favourite WOD was the 12 minute thruster ladder.The bar was not allowed to touch the ground, otherwise a 30 second penalty would be given. Every three minutes the load was increase, and the bar was loaded by the other team members while one of the team held the bar in the rack position. Some of the teams looked like a Formula 1 pit crew, changing weights quickly and flawlessly in one fluid motion. It was truly a sight to see.

The team tactics that were employed in this WOD were just amazing. As the photographer walking about, I could hear the whispers here and there about how and what they were planning, and how that would help them through the WOD. As the weight increased of course and the strain of 12 minutes of work started to show its face, the tactics came into play.
The synchronised kettle bell swing in the last WOD was quite fun to watch and proved to be interesting as male and females had to swing the bells together to count as a rep, I was surprised to see very few swings out of sync!

Thanks to the event organisers as the event run very smoothly and on time which would have been hard to do as there were so many teams and two WOD’s running concurrently, great work Chris and the guys from Coastal Crossfit.

Now for the winners, RXD was taken out by The Dux Virus from CrossFit Dux team they finished three of the WOD’s in 1st place, great work guys, 2nd place was taken by Jamie Milne Training team from Jamie Milne Training who managed a very strong 2nd place in two of the four WOD’s, 3rd was taken by team Rawsome 1. Like all CrossFit competitions watching the winning RXD team shake hands and congratulate the 2nd and 3rd place teams makes amazing athletes even more amazing.

In the scaled division the Confront Avengers from CrossFit Confront took out 1st place, with CF Bribie Island Orange from CrossFit Bribie Island 2nd and the Core Energy Energisers from Core Energy in 3rd.

If you are going to be in an event or planning an event send me an email to make sure I capture the pulse of that event for you.

If you are a CrossFit box a team or an athlete looking for images of you or your team the images are for sale, email me with your team name and number and preferably a team photo.

Clash on the Coast 2015

Here is some more content from my Facebook page of the event
 

 

 

Taken at Clash on the Coast for Coastal CrossFit Queensland here is a small gallery of the images of the 1st WOD, I will…

Posted by Michael Coppola Photographics on Saturday, May 9, 2015

Rise for the Fallen 2015

With ANZAC day coming up and our Defence Force always ready to go to action, there will always be a need for something like The Legacy Foundation, “Legacy is dedicated to caring for the families of deceased and incapacitated veterans. Today Legacy’s caring and compassionate service assists over 90,000 widows and 1,900 children and dependants with a disability”

So CrossFit Ruthless decided to start a fundraiser for Legacy in the form of a Teams CrossFit Competition. They aptly called it “Rise for the Fallen”, it was more than just a four WOD’s, the fundraising for Legacy was also part of the overall competition. There was a dawn service before the event started with the local high school’s band playing and laying of wreaths in front of pictures of four fallen soldiers. The minutes silence really humbled you, it made you realise that we are very lucky that we have what we have because of the people who have fought for where we are today.

The four WOD’s were named after fallen soldiers,  Leydon-McDonald, Beckwith, Cashman and Brewster, if you would like to know what the WOD’s were please have a look at the CrossFit Ruthless / Rise for the Fallen Facebook site. All I will say about them is I was glad I was photographing them and not doing them, they were very tough, the most pain faces I have seen at event ever. I think the chipper WOD with snatches and the complex back to back was hard for a lot of the athletes, but in true CrossFit style no one complained, they just dug deep and got to it.

The event ran very smoothly and the organisation of the overall event was a credit to the team of volunteers from CrossFit Ruthless and the work done by Lisa, well done to all who helped, the Legacy BBQ was great!

Now for the winners, the RX division was hotly contested and was still very close, the team from CrossFit Alive finished three of the WOD’s in first place, they also raised the most for Legacy, awesome work guys. A team from CrossFit The Stables  come in 2nd place with a team from the new formed affiliate CrossFit Might coming in third.

The scaled division saw the CFC Punks come first, with the Kiwi’s and the Quokkas 2nd and the NT4R team come in third.

If you are interested in seeing the rest of your teams photos, send me an email with your team name, division and heat number preferably with a team photo.

If you would like to me to cover your next event to capture the pulse of your event please contact me.

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Here is some more content from my Facebook page of the event


 

 



CrossFit Open 15.5

The CrossFit Open is an international event, it is a series of 5 WOD’s  (workouts) that are posted on-line with instructions on what the movements are, and every one who registers has a chance to do the workout and record their result. You do the workout in front of a judge at your local CrossFit box, and then record your results. The top 30 in Australia will head to the Regionals and will have an opportunity to represent their CrossFit box at a Australia wide event held in June.

CrossFit Open 15.5 is the final WOD of 5 WOD’s, as everybody was expecting it was a chipper, a long workout that you chip away at rep by rep. It included a row for calories and thrusters. From 27 calories and 27 thrusters to 21, then 15 and then 9, with a total time being your score.

Yes the CrossFit Open is about people doing their best to get as high as they can, and beat their chest to say I finished higher than you, its a part of the competition aspect, but what it also does is brings the community of athletes together. It allows you to talk to a complete stranger who is in CrossFit shoes and ask if they are doing it and what their thoughts on that WOD was and how they tackled it and their score.

But, not every one is in it to come in the top 30, or for that matter the top of their age / class. For some it is a way of having fun, by  being at the Box while its on you can help out a fellow athlete, or help judge or more.

What better way of making it fun than what CrossFit Coorparoo did, a 80’s themed dress up for the last round of the CrossFit Open 15.5. Yes even I was dressed in leg warmers and bright lycra.

Best dressed would have to have been Crystal with a close 2nd to Marlyn, who donned some pretty out there 80’s gear! Not to be out done though, both Trent and Sarah the affiliate owners were in quite over the top 80’s attire.

It didn’t detract though from the spirit of the workout nor did it hinder the athletes, they all gave it their best and worked hard through the rows and the thrusters. Pain faces don’t look as painful when there is bright coloured lycra!

One of the most amazing things about CrossFit Corrparoo is the family community spirit, whether you have been there 1 day or from inception, every one is part of the larger family, and we all look out for each other. All the CrossFit Open has done for CFC is make the family even closer. I look forward to the 2016 CrossFit Open and to doing it at CrossFit Coorparoo!

So here are the images from today, if you have a CrossFit event coming up, drop me a line to discuss how I can capture the pulse of your event.

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CrossFit Open 15.4

The CrossFit Open is an international event, it is a series of 5 WOD’s  (workouts) that are posted on-line with instructions on what the movements are, and every one who registers has a chance to do the workout and record their result. You do the workout in front of a judge at your local CrossFit box, and then record your results. The top 30 in Australia will head to the Regionals and will have an opportunity to represent their CrossFit box at a Australia wide event held in June.

CrossFit Open 15.4 is the fourth WOD of 5 WOD’s, it included a new exercise for the Open, hand stand push ups, with an easy to understand method to judge the rep, and cleans, in a AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 8 minutes.

This week I went to CrossFit DUX to cover their athletes doing the Open, I first “met” Gregg Wilson the Owner of CrossFit DUX at the Semper Paratus team challenge in 2014, well, I didnt actually meet him there, I took some pictures of his Team at the event.

I contacted him a few weeks ago when I decided to do this project, as CrossFit DUX is only just not one year old, but the level of athletes I saw at the previous comp was impressive.

I really wanted to see Gregg in action doing the CrossFit Open 15.4 workout, when I found out that he had already done it I was disappointed, but what I saw him do this morning was even more impressive.

His explanation of the WOD, taking apart each movement, to help each athlete understand how to do their best was 2nd to none, the best I have seen so far.

By the third heat I realised, Gregg looked like he was “just” wandering around, but I was so wrong. He was picking up every small detail of each athlete and was helping them with tips along the way. You will see Gregg in the background a few of the pictures, keeping a watchful eye

The other thing you will see is the small tight nit community of athletes that has made CrossFit DUX what it is, a great place to WOD.

Congratulations to all who did 15.4 today, you all looked like you were doing your best. Please let me know if I have missed you, I will dig back through the images and post up more if needed.

I plan to cover each of the 5 WOD’s at a different CrossFit box each week, to give a wider perspective of the boxes around Brisbane and maybe be able to show off some of the best athletes in Brisbane.

So here are the images from today, keep your eyes peeled as I may be at your CrossFit box next.

Crossfit Open 15.4

 

 

 

 

 

CrossFit Open 15.3

The CrossFit Open is an international event, it is a series of 5 WOD’s  (workouts) that are posted on-line with instructions on what the movements are, and every one who registers has a chance to do the workout and record their result. You do the workout in front of a judge at your local CrossFit box, and then record your results. The top 30 in Australia will head to the Regionals and will have an opportunity to represent their CrossFit box at a Australia wide event held in June.

CrossFit Open 15.3 is the third WOD of 5 WOD’s, it included 7 ring muscle ups, 50 wall ball shots and 100 double unders, in a AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 14 minutes.

This week I went to CrossFit S.P.E.E.D for their Saturday AM CrossFit Open session, I love taking pictures in this Box, of all the boxes I have shot in so far this one has a little edge for me, it has great lighting and some amazing murals, which add to the backgrounds of the images. Darren did the workout the night before, and wanted to give the competitors who were doing it Saturday morning a little help, he judged three athletes while I was there and as you can see in the pictures he is more than just judging them, great work Darren!

About 30 people completed the Open workout, some doing the RX version (full weights) and others opting for scaled (smaller weight options which is a first for the CrossFit Open). Having the elite athletes working out with people doing the scaled versions gives all the athletes an extra edge. In my opinion though the scaled version was harder to some degree as there was less diversification, the legs in this workout got quite a hammering, not suggesting that ring muscle ups are easy though.

The thing I am enjoying about the Open is the fact that it is levelling the field of athletes across the workouts. With only 3 workouts released so far and two more to go, I am sure that the next two WOD’s will test a completely different set of strengths and expose some more weaknesses. I have yet to be able to do a workout Rx, as there has been one aspect of each WOD so far that has been above my beginner abilities. I am hoping that I will be able to do at least one of the next two workouts Rx.

I plan to cover each of the 5 WOD’s at a different CrossFit box each week, to give a wider perspective of the boxes around Brisbane and maybe be able to show off some of the best athletes in Brisbane.

Looking forward to going to CrossFit Dux and taking some pics of Gregg and his team next Saturday Am.

So here are the images from today, keep your eyes peeled as I may be at your CrossFit box next.

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Here is some news about one of CrossFit S.P.E.E.D’s athletes

 

CrossFit Open 15.2

The CrossFit Open is an international event, it is a series of 5 WOD’s  (workouts) that are posted on-line with instructions on what the movements are, and every one who registers has a chance to do the workout and record their result. You do the workout in front of a judge at your local CrossFit box, and then record your results. The top 30 in Australia will head to the Regionals and will have an opportunity to represent their CrossFit box at a Australia wide event held in June.

CrossFit Open 15.2 is the second WOD of 5 WOD’s, it included 10 over head squats and 10 chest to bar pull ups, 2 rounds in 3 minutes, every three minutes 2 more reps were added, until you failed to complete the reps in the 3 minutes.

Going back to CrossFit CrossAxed to cover the Open 15.2 workout, I realised again what I enjoyed about photographing the Semper Paratus event there, the way every body gets behind the people competing. The Open workout held here was no different, fair and hard judges, which make you strive harder and push further, yet still smile while doing your workout!

About 60 people completed the Open workout, some doing the RX version (full weights) and others opting for scaled (smaller weight options which is a first for the CrossFit Open). Having the elite athletes working out with people doing the scaled versions gives all the athletes an extra edge.

Every one knows doing a workout on your own can be a little hard, as there is less motivation and it is easier to slacken off, as you are the only one judging your workout. By having all the divisions on the workout working together the atmosphere changes. I know I took a minute out of taking pictures to encourage some one who looked like they needed a little push. The smile on their face after the workout said it all!

Glad to see some familiar faces and thanks to all for saying hi! I am glad that I was able to finally get images of Rob and Ollie working out too.

I plan to cover each of the 5 WOD’s at a different CrossFit box each week, to give a wider perspective of the boxes around Brisbane and maybe be able to show off some of the best athletes in Brisbane.

So here are the images from tonight, keep your eyes peeled as I may be at your CrossFit box next.

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CrossFit Open 15.1 and 15.1a

The CrossFit Open is an international event, it is a series of 5 WOD’s  (workouts) that are posted on-line with instructions on what the movements are, and every one who registers has a chance to do the workout and record their result. You do the workout in front of a judge at your local CrossFit box, and then record your results. The top 30 in Australia will head to the Regionals and will have an opportunity to represent their CrossFit box at a Australia wide event held in June.

CrossFit Open 15.1 and 15.1a is the first WOD of 5 WOD’s, it included toes to bar, deadlifts and snatches, in a AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 9 minutes, and was finished off by a 6 min time limit to do your maximum clean and jerk.

I plan to cover each of the 5 WOD’s at a different CrossFit box each week, to give a wider perspective of the boxes around Brisbane and maybe be able to show off some of the best athletes in Brisbane.

Here are some images from CrossFit Coorparoo which is the box I train at, keep your eyes peeled as I may be at your CrossFit box next.

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Battle in the Switch 2015

What else would you do on the 14th of February? Well if you are a keen CrossFitter, you would do a CrossFit Comp of course, Battle in the Switch 2015 was held on Saturday, you can read about the WOD’s and the winners on their page.

What amazed me at this competition was the team spirit I was seeing across many of the teams, high fives and group hugs was the order of the day, with a challenging 3rd WOD and many of the athletes doing muscle ups for the first time, the atmosphere at one stage was so on edge, I was sure that every person watching was helping to get each athlete over the bar. If you have never been to a CrossFit comp as a spectator then i suggest you go and support your fellow Crossfitters.

I am not surprised to read in comments on my Facebook page that many of the athletes were doing things that they had not done before. To anyone who has not been to a CrossFit competition as an athlete, I suggest you make it a priority to give one a go, even if you feel that you are not good enough yet, you never know what you will be able to achieve, and unless you give it a go you will never know. To all those I captured doing their first rep, congratulations awesome work.

I cant wait to get on the other side of the lens and have a go myself. Looking forward to a comp of my own in the future.

If you are interested in seeing the rest of your teams photos, send me an email with your team number and heat number preferably with a team photo.

If you would like to me to cover your next event to capture the pulse of your event please contact me.

Battle in the Switch 2015

Here is some more content from my Facebook page of the event
 


 

 


 


 

AusDay Mashup 2015

What an amazing idea for a CrossFit competition The AusDay Mashup 2015, run by CrossFit Rockhampton, you register as a couple, one male and one female, and turn up, you are then allocated another couple to be your team for the comp. With this in mind, I figured that the 7 hour drive from Brisbane was worth it, as it brought together all the things I love about CrossFit, everyone encourages everyone to do their best, no matter who they are or which box they belong to.

So teams of 4 people some of which had only just met, from neighbouring Boxes, getting together to do three tough WOD’s, on a hot humid day in Rockhampton, what else would you possibly want to do?

The first WOD a Clean to Press ladder with an endurance element as well as a team element was quite a good start. The next WOD in the hot humid weather would have tested the fittest of Athletes, a mixture of running and rowing with wall balls to top it off. The last WOD a chipper was nasty after all the work in the typical Queensland summer heat.

As a beginner to CrossFit reading the WOD’s and thinking how would I do? I still think I am in need of more prep work before taking on a comp myself, but I could see myself doing this comp one day!

The event ran smoothly with three levels, beginners intermediates and advanced athletes but there as always can only be one winner. Here is the winning team for each division:

Advanced
Erin Georgeson & Harley Lebsanft CrossFit Rockhampton With Nicole Higlett & Cameron Goltz CrossFit 4701

Intermediate
1st Shane Crowley & Christee Bishop CrossFit 4740 With Sean O’Neill & Emily Powell CrossFit CQ

Beginner
1st Amanda Jarvis & Matthew Lawson CrossFit Rockhampton With Marie Rattenbury & Brendan Hill CrossFit 4701

Congratulations to all who placed, but also to all who competed!

If you are going to be in an event or planning an event send me an email to make sure I capture the pulse of that event for you.

AusDay Mashup 2015

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