The top two scores on 18.1 were invalidated

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“The goal is to get fit, make it the best hour of your day, stay safe, turn up the music, high five some people, and blow off some steam. So remember that. Have fun. Work out.” — Pat Sherwood

THE #1 AND #2 SCORES ON 18.1 WERE INVALIDATED

The story.

Monday night at 9:16 PM, Jonathan Varela and Malachi Bennett received emails from the CrossFit Games team notifying them that their 492 and 489 rep scores and video submission had been rejected, linking to a “brief explanation of why.” Unfortunately, the link takes you to a 404 error page.

Varela’s score would have been number one worldwide and Bennett’s number two.

Interesting. So what happened?

Well, we’re not 100% sure, as CrossFit HQ didn’t respond to either ours or Bennett’s requests for an explanation, but we have some thoughts. However, we were told to expect a statement from CrossFit on the issue today.

Here’s what we do know.

As you can see in the video, Varela and Bennett used Xebex rowers instead of the more commonly used Concept 2.

Now before you get all up in arms, let’s consult the workout standards for 18.1, which says: “Rower that counts calories, similar in type and calibration to a Concept 2 rower.” Notice it does not say it has to be a Concept 2 rower.

Anticipating this issue not just for these two athletes but the rest of Caliber Fitness gym doing 18.1, gym manager Westy Guill emailed CrossFit HQ specifically asking about Xebex rowers: “Our gym has xebec rowers and they say on their website that they are calibrated exactly like concept 2 rowers are these okay to use for the open wod?”

To which, CrossFit HQ responded: “As long as the rower is of similar type and calibration of a Concept 2 rower you can use it. Perhaps you can reach out to the manufacturer to see if they can provide that information.”

So Bennett asked the manufacturer and got this response: “Xebex Rowers count calories, similar in type and calibration to a Concept 2 Rower, so we believe that it is approved for [the] Open.”

So why were the scores invalidated?

In short, without an official explanation from CrossFit we just can’t tell you, but in all probability it’s because they used Xebex rowers.

But the question really isn’t whether the Xebex rower counts calories differently but what rule did they specifically break, considering what appears to be tacit approval from HQ? And what about the other athletes at Caliber Fitness who performed 18.1 on a Xebex? Or in any other affiliate around the world. What happens to their scores?

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

Snatches” by Scott Simmonds

Snatches are hard to do right.

You pull with all of your might.

Up with great wonder,

And then you drop under.

It’s standing that’s often the fight.

THINGS TO…

WATCH: Matt Bickel, Cultivating Change

As a kid, Matt Bickel was overweight and lacked confidence. His parents divorced when he was young, he grew up poor, and girls were never interested in him. Food was the one thing that never turned him down. 

BUT THEN CROSSFIT LODO.

HEAR: The Women of Mayhem

Elly, Kristin, Lindy and Tasia take over the Froning and Friends podcast for a GIRLS ONLY episode talking about 18.1, their first Open WOD and their hidden musical talents. 

HANGING WITH MAYHEM.

SUPPORT: $15,000 Matching Donation 

CrossFit Poipu is working hard to raise money to open a new completely free facility in the community of Kekaha, Hawaii. CrossFit Poipu’s kids program has brought free youth and family programs to hundreds of kids, helping get them off the streets, out of trouble and into fitness. For the next $15,000 raised, a generous donor is going to match every donation dollar for dollar.

BE THE IMPACT.

EAT: Paleo Turmeric Chicken Meatballs with Green Tahini Sauce

Sheet pan Paleo Turmeric Chicken Meatballs with roasted potatoes, onions and a creamy green herb tahini sauce. Delicious, super easy and great for meal prep.

GET COOKIN.

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is powered by

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• CUB SCOUT 350 — The coaches at CrossFit Repentance in Burlington, WI helped Cub Scout 350 work towards earning their physical fitness belt loop. Every cub improved their 100m sprint time and six were awarded their belt loop on February 19. 
• FOR MENTAL ILLNESS — Kevin Pei, coach at CrossFit 460 in Blacksburg, VA, lost his girlfriend Torey about three weeks ago. For 18.1, CrossFit 460 decided to wear purple in honor of Torey and to bring awareness to women’s mental health. What originally started out as a $1,000 goal exploded to a $6,000 goal. All the money will go to the local Women’s Mental Health Organization. Even more heartwarming, this was Kevin’s birthday gift wish. 
• THIS AMPUTEE — Trevor Battah lost his left arm in a motorcycle accident. While he was heading down a path of heavy drinking and prescription drug abuse, a friend convinced him to try CrossFit and it completely changed his life. 

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES (a highlight reel around social media of CrossFit pros and average joes)

Tommy Marquez is asking for donations to Stop Soldier Suicide for his birthday • Alec Smith is now officially a home owner • Emily Bridgers will be in Houston this Friday for an 18.2 fundraiser for rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey.

…and here are 25 places you need to poop before you die. 

18.2 Hint — Well we told you yesterday that you’d get a clue from Dave Castro and you did. It’s gonna burn. 

Jonne Koski is sitting out the 2018 season to heal…“I won’t be doing the Open for the first time in 5 years. For the past 2 years, I was trying to get my knee better by putting a lot of extra effort on warm ups, recovery, rehab and changing the movement patterns. Unfortunately, the problems wouldn’t go away…Last year after the Games I had 2 knee surgeries to remove nagging scar tissue that had built up from previous injuries. MRI also showed that I had a tear in my vastus lateralis tendon which has made the recovery a bit slower but has healed well by now. I was hoping that I would be able to
compete the 2018 season but my recovery is still in progress and I needed to allow myself more time to heal fully before competing again.” Koski finished ninth at the 2017 CrossFit Games. 

Lucas Parker also taking 2018 off to recover…“I’ll be sitting out this year’s crossfit open qualifiers…I have decided that a year off will be very beneficial for me. Due to a handful of various setbacks and issues, I don’t believe my capacity is where it needs to be to achieve my goals this season. Rather than have a weak 2018 that sets me up for a disappointing 2019, I’d rather have a productive 2018 that sets me up for a successful 2019.”

“Scaling Is Not An Apology” by Jenny Werba, United Barbell

Scaling is an adjustment of the workout to your individual needs. Scaling is not an apology or an excuse. And it’s not some bullshit way to talk down to yourself or anybody else.

The ubiquitous use of the term scaled is kind of unfortunate in our fitness world because it’s an ill-fitting term, but it’s too late now to go back and change the word.

If I could, I’d call it something more apt like “tailored” because everybody understands that clothing off the rack doesn’t always fit right, so you go to the tailor and get it fitted to your body. What good scaling does is tailor the workout to you.

But in our fitness world, as we increasingly geek over data, we seek to find more ways to make everything uniform so that we can measure who is the fittest or the fastest or the strongest or the best.  So we make one super-human standard and everyone else has to adjust off that standard. I get it. Makes sense. I used to be into that, but most of the time now I really don’t care for dick-measuring contests, but that’s just me.

3/1: CrossFit Open 18.2 (Worldwide)3/8: CrossFit Open 18.3 (Worldwide)

3/10: Women Who WOD (Barbados)

3/15: CrossFit Open 18.4 (Worldwide)

3/22: CrossFit Open 18.5 (Worldwide)

3/23: The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth is released (iTunes)

3/24: 4th Annual St. Paddy’s Day Competition (Norwood, MA)

4/7: Battle of the Badges (Anaheim, CA)

4/7: The Revolution (San Antonio, TX)

4/7: GenX Masters Comp (Salem, MA)

4/13 – 4/15: The Railyard Games (Albuquerque, NM)

4/14: Battle for the Mountain (Dawsonville, GA)

4/14: Appalachian Games (Asheville, NC)

4/14: Deuces Wild by Warrior Affiliate League (Baldwin Park, CA)

4/14 – 4/15: Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Challenge (Columbia, MD)

4/14 – 4/15: WOD Wars Fitfest (Dunedin, FL)

4/19: Teens and Masters Qualifier (Invitation Only)

4/20 – 4/22: Athens Throwdown (Athens, Greece)

4/21: Festivus Games (Nationwide)

4/21: Mayhem for MSR (Cookeville, TN)

4/21: Loganville Lockdown (Loganville, GA)

4/28: Battleground SoCal (Wimington, CA)

4/28: Girls Gone Rx (Cincinnati, OH)

4/28: Salem Slaughterfest (Salem, OR)

4/28: 3rd Annual Appletown Throwdown (Cornelia, GA)

4/28 – 4/29: Walter’s Cup Throwdown (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

5/4 – 5/5: Tough As Nails (Lubbock, TX)

5/4 – 5/6: European Masters Throwdown (Budapest, Hungary)

5/5 – 5/6: Tribal Clash (Quarteira, Portugal)

5/5: Cinco de Mayo Classic (San Antonio, TX)

5/5: The Locomotive Games III (Youngstown, OH)

5/11 – 5/12: Beast Mode Games (Greenville, SC)

5/11 – 5/12: Midwest Monster (Joplin, MO)

5/12: Barbells for Bullies (Danbury, CT)

5/19: Raising the Bar for Recovery (Medina, OH)

5/19: East Coast Battle (Hanover, MD)

5/26: Beauty is a Beast 2 (Indian Rocks Beach, FL)