CrossFit Games

Brooke Wells Announces Shift to PRVN Fitness and Coach Shane Orr

December 9, 2020 by
Image: Brooke Wells
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When Brooke Wells made the announcement that she was leaving CompTrain after over four years of success under the tutelage of Ben Bergeron, speculation as to where she would end up was rampant throughout the CrossFit community. On Wednesday afternoon Wells put those speculations to rest in an Instagram post when she announced she would start following the PRVN Fitness training program with Shane Orr as her coach.

One big thing: Over the past few seasons, Shane Orr has amassed a significant record as a coach of elite CrossFit athletes. He has coached his wife, Tia-Clair Toomey to four-straight “Fittest Woman on Earth” titles and Mathew Fraser to two of his five “Fittest Man on Earth” titles. For Wells, this move might be the thing that gets her over the hump and onto the podium for the first time.

Remind me: Since bursting onto the CrossFit scene as a 19-year old at the 2015 Games, Wells has been considered one of the top stars in the sport, but her lack of a podium finish has been frustrating to the now 25-year old and six-time Games qualifier. 

  • In her Games debut she placed 16th and immediately became a fixture in conversations within the sport as “champion-in-waiting”.
  • Those conversations were fueled in her sophomore year at the Games when she placed sixth thanks in part to ten top-ten finishes and a memorable display of strength in the “Ranch Deadlift Ladder” when she was the only woman to clear the ladder with a pull of 415 LBs for her first career Games event victory.
  • After regressing during the 2017 Games with a 14th place she bounced back in 2018, rallying from a slow start at that year’s Games to finish with 11 top-ten finishes and an overall placing of eighth.
  • During the 2019 Games, Wells was on her way to yet another top-ten finish and possibly her first podium finish but was bitten by bad luck as a penalty in the “Sprint” resulted in her missing the final cut and she placed 15th overall.
  • The crazy 2020 season saw Wells take another approach to her training and career. She moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Nashville, Tennessee during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her new training camp helped her to a second place showing during the online phase of the Games and ultimately a fifth place finish in stage two, her best finish at the Games in her career.
  • During the last two years she saw her friendship with Toomey blossom, especially after the latter became a fellow NOBULL sponsored athlete. Both women are also represented by and close friends with Matt O’Keefe.

The bottom line: As stated when she left CompTrain, Wells’ coaching change appears to be part of a natural evolution that is not uncommon for many top CrossFit athletes. Variation and change is oftentimes good in a sport that calls for both to be successful. If any coach can maximize the potential that Wells has shown in her career it is Orr who has helped shape Toomey into the champion she is today. His biggest accomplishment could be this season as he has to now coach two elite athletes in the same division who have the same goals. 

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