Redefining Fast: “Grace” and “Isabel” Get Torched at the 2025 TYR Cup
It’s the opening event of the 2010 CrossFit Games, and a new girl workout is the task: “Amanda,” a workout involving 21 muscle-ups and 21 snatches at 135 pounds for the men and 95 pounds for the women.
It’s a high-skill, heavy-lifting event for both men and women, and many struggle to string together more than one muscle-up, while they set up for each snatch as if it’s a near-max effort.
Because it was.
The result: The event quickly turned into a blood bath of failed reps, complete with 2008 CrossFit Games champion Jason Khalipa face-planting on a 135-pound snatch attempt.
15 Years Later
Fast forward to last weekend at the TYR Cup during Wodapalooza SoCal in Huntington Beach, CA, where top CrossFit athletes from Team North America and Team World battled for the title and big prize money.
One of the weekend’s highlight events featured head-to-head men’s and women’s “Isabel” races — 30 snatches for time at 135/95 pounds, the same weight used during “Amanda” at the 2010 Games — followed by two head-to-head “Grace” races.
- At the end of all four races, the team with the fastest cumulative time took the win.
Representing Team North America, Danielle Brandon and Pat Vellner took on “Isabel.”
The duo made the traditional CrossFit benchmark look easy as they completed touch-and-go reps faster than most people can move an empty barbell, aiming for sub-one-minute performances.
- Brandon: 57 seconds
- Vellner: 55 seconds
For Team World, Grace Walton posted a 1:12 “Isabel,” while Jay Crouch finished in 58 seconds.
Next up was “Grace” — 30 clean and jerks for time, also at 135 or 95 pounds.
- Traditionally, “Grace” times have been faster than “Isabel” times, as the snatch weight was heavy enough to slow athletes down.
Not anymore, as the test is no longer about strength; it’s about speed and finding the proper technique to maximize it.
“Grace” Times at the TYR Cup:
- Olivia Kerstetter 1:06
- Aimee Cringle 1:07
- Jayson Hopper: 1:01
- Roman Khrennikov: 1:05
In the end, Team North America edged out Team World on all four of the head-to-head match-ups, giving them a much-needed point.
One Big Thing
Eleven years ago, CrossFit posted a video of five-time CrossFit Games athlete Dan Bailey doing Grace in 1:01, an unheard-of performance at the time.
Hopper matched this time on Friday at the TYR Cup, but it’s worth noting that Bailey is only 5-foot-7 while Hopper is 6-foot-1, which makes Hopper’s time even more impressive, because a shorter range of motion on a workout like “Grace” is a big advantage.
- To hold the pace he did on Friday, Hopper kept his knees slightly bent through his cleans, thus shortening his range of motion to boost his speed and finish in 1:01.
Ultimately, Hopper and Khrennikov demonstrated on Friday at the TYR Cup that a one-minute “Grace” is now par for the course for an elite CrossFit athlete, and it raises the question of whether it’s even possible to go much faster than that.
The Big Picture
The evolution of CrossFit performance over the last 20 years is undeniable. What used to be a brutal strength challenge is now a simple task performed with almost effortless speed by today’s top athletes.
As athletes keep improving their technique and pushing physical limits, what was once unthinkable is now the new standard.
Featured image: Scott Freymond
