The Impact of No Swimming at the CrossFit Games

Photo Credit: CrossFit LLC

The 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games did not have a swimming event for the first time since 2011. The omission of a movement that is expected can be considered just as “unknown and unknowable” as the inclusion of one that isn’t (or a new one). Seeing as swimming has become such a mainstay at the Games, and it was missing this year, we set out to find out what impact, if any, not swimming at the Games would have. For this study we looked at the years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

For the full breakdown for men from those years go here.

For the full breakdown for women from those years go here.

All the research for this article is credited to Barclay Dale.

2016 MEN

2016
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Mathew Fraser	1	1	0
Ben Smith	2	3	-1
Patrick Vellner	3	2	1
Brent Fikowski	4	4	0
Cole Sager	5	7	-2
Scott Panchik	6	6	0
Jacob Heppner	7	5	2
Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson	8	8	0
Alex Vigneault	9	9	0
Travis Mayer	10	12	-2
Alex Anderson	11	11	0
Marcus Filly	12	10	2
Josh Bridges	13	13	0
Lukas Högberg	14	14	0
Noah Ohlsen	15	17	-2
Samuel Kwant	16	16	0
Rob Forte	17	15	2
Christian Lucero	18	18	0
Travis Williams	19	19	0
Garret Fisher	20	24	-4
Lukas Esslinger	21	26	-5
Lucas Parker	22	20	2
Zak Carchedi	23	21	2
James Newbury	24	23	1
Rasmus Andersen	25	29	-4
Albert-Dominic LaRouche	26	25	1
Gary Helmick	27	22	5
Ben Stoneberg	28	27	1
Jacob Anderson	29	28	1
Sean Sweeney	30	36	-6
Logan Collins	31	30	1
Sam Dancer	32	31	1
Spencer Hendel	33	35	-2
Adrian Mundwiler	34	33	1
Rogelio Gamboa	35	32	3
Joseph Guesnier	36	34	2
Mitchell Sinnamon	37	37	0
Khan Porter	38	38	0
Zeke Grove	39	39	0
Jonne Koski	40	40	0

• 9 men would have placed lower 
• 16 men would have placed higher
• Vellner would have been 2nd rather than 3rd
• Meaning Ben Smith would have been 3rd instead of 2nd
• Sweeney drops 6 spots, Esslinger drops 5, and while Garret Fisher and Rasmus Anderson drop 4
• The biggest benefactor would have been Gary Helmick moving up 5

2016 WOMEN

2016
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir	1	1	0
Tia-Clair Toomey	2	2	0
Sara Sigmundsdottir	3	3	0
Samantha Briggs	4	4	0
Kari Pearce	5	5	0
Brooke Wells	6	6	0
Kara Saunders	7	7	0
Kristi Eramo O’Connell	8	9	-1
Alessandra Pichelli	9	8	1
Anna Tobias	10	10	0
Tennil Beuerlein	11	14	-3
Kristin Holte	12	11	1
Annie Thorisdottir	13	12	1
Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault	14	15	-1
Tasia Percevecz	15	13	2
Michele Letendre	16	16	0
Chyna Cho	17	18	-1
Jamie Hagiya	18	17	1
Thuridur Erla Helgadottir	19	19	0
Emily Abbott	20	21	-1
Camille Leblanc-Bazinet	21	20	1
Margaux Alvarez	22	24	-2
Carleen Mathews	23	22	1
Christy Adkins	24	23	1
Lauren Fisher	25	27	-2
Alea Helmick	26	25	1
Candice Wagner	27	26	1
Stacie Tovar	28	28	0
Emily Bridgers	29	30	-1
Whitney Elks	30	31	-1
Alexis Johnson	31	29	2
Christina Seeley	32	32	0
Meg Reardon	33	34	-1
Sheila Barden	34	33	1
Rebecca Voigt Miller	35	35	0
Jennifer Smith	36	36	0
Carly Fuhrer	37	37	0
Justine Beath	38	38	0
Madeline Sturt	39	39	0
Alethea Boon	40	40	0

• 10 women would have placed worse
• 12 women would have placed better
• Tennil Beuerlein regressing 3 places is the only delta greater than two for the women

2017 MEN

2017
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Mathew Fraser	1	1	0
Brent Fikowski	2	2	0
Patrick Vellner	3	3	0
Noah Ohlsen	4	5	-1
Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson	5	6	-1
Scott Panchik	6	4	2
Ben Smith	7	9	-2
Alex Anderson	8	8	0
Jonne Koski	9	13	-4
Jason Smith	10	7	3
Logan Collins	11	10	1
Travis Mayer	12	11	1
Garret Fisher	13	12	1
Streat Hoerner	14	15	-1
Cody Anderson	15	14	1
Cole Sager	16	16	0
Cody Mooney	17	20	-3
Lukas Esslinger	18	19	-1
Tim Paulson	19	17	2
Samuel Kwant	20	18	2
George Sanchez	21	21	0
Dakota Rager	22	23	-1
Travis Williams	23	22	1
Frederik Aegidius	24	25	-1
Rob Forte	25	24	1
James Newbury	26	31	-5
Richard Paul Castillo	27	27	0
Jason Carroll	28	26	2
Josh Bridges	29	28	1
Zak Carchedi	30	30	0
Michael Palomba	31	29	2
Tommy Vinas	32	32	0
Zeke Grove	33	33	0
Jeff Patzer	34	35	-1
Elijah Muhammad	35	34	1
Alec Smith	36	37	-1
Wesley Rethwill	37	36	1
Mitchell Sinnamon	38	38	0
Ricky Garard	DQ	DQ	0

• 12 men would have placed worse
• 15 men would have placed better
• Newbury moves down 5, Koski moves down 4, and Cody Moony drops 3
• Jason Smith improves 3 places

2017 WOMEN

2017
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Tia-Clair Toomey	1	3	-2
Kara Saunders	2	1	1
Annie Thorisdottir	3	2	1
Sara Sigmundsdottir	4	4	0
Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir	5	5	0
Tennil Beuerlein	6	6	0
Kristin Holte	7	7	0
Jamie Simmonds	8	8	0
Samantha Briggs	9	10	-1
Kari Pearce	10	9	1
Alessandra Pichelli	11	11	0
Cassidy Lance-McWherter	12	12	0
Kristi Eramo O’Connell	13	17	-4
Brooke Wells	14	13	1
Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault	15	14	1
Emily Bridgers	16	15	1
Chyna Cho	17	21	-4
Thuridur Erla Helgadottir	18	18	0
Emily Abbott	19	16	3
Dani Horan	20	20	0
Alethea Boon	21	19	2
Bethany Flores	22	23	-1
Mekenzie Riley	23	24	-1
Margaux Alvarez	24	22	2
Anna Tobias	25	26	-1
Whitney Gelin	26	28	-2
Stacie Tovar	27	25	2
Kirsten Pedri	28	29	-1
Regan Huckaby	29	27	2
Lauren Fisher	30	31	-1
Carly Fuhrer	31	30	1
Valerie Voboril	32	33	-1
Alexis Johnson	33	32	1
Jessica Griffith	34	34	0
Madeline Sturt	35	35	0
Jessica Coughlan	36	36	0
Casey Campbell	37	37	0
Carleen Mathews	38	38	0
Camille Leblanc-Bazinet	39	39	0
Chelsey Hughes	40	40	0

• 11 women place worse
• 13 women place better
• For the first time we have a different winner in this scenario
• Tia Clari Toomey drops all the way to 3rd with Kara Saunders getting the win and Annie Thorisdottir sliding up to second
• Both Kristi Eramo O’Connell and Chyna Cho drop down 4 spots
• Emily Abbott moves up three spots

2018 MEN

2018
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Mathew Fraser	1	1	0
Patrick Vellner	2	2	0
Lukas Högberg	3	3	0
Brent Fikowski	4	4	0
Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson	5	5	0
Noah Ohlsen	6	6	0
Cole Sager	7	7	0
Rasmus Andersen	8	10	-2
Willy Georges	9	9	0
Cody Anderson	10	8	2
Scott Panchik	11	11	0
Ben Smith	12	13	-1
Alex Anderson	13	14	-1
Dean Linder-Leighton	14	18	-4
Logan Collins	15	16	-1
Adrian Mundwiler	16	12	4
Lukas Esslinger	17	15	2
James Newbury	18	22	-4
Saxon Panchik	19	21	-2
Nicholas Urankar	20	17	3
Frederik Aegidius	21	20	1
Sean Sweeney	22	24	-2
Rogelio Gamboa	23	19	4
Khan Porter	24	26	-2
Alec Smith	25	23	2
Elliot Simmonds	26	28	-2
Craig Kenney	27	25	2
John Coltey	28	29	-1
Tim Paulson	29	27	2
Zeke Grove	30	31	-1
Josh Bridges	31	33	-2
Mitchel Stevenson	32	32	0
Ethan Helbig	33	30	3
Royce Dunne	34	34	0
Jared Enderton	35	35	0
Brandon Luckett	36	36	0
Marquan Jones	37	37	0
Pablo Chalfun	38	38	0
Alexandre Caron	39	39	0

• 13 men place worse without the swim
• 10 men place better
• Dean Linder-Leighton and James Newbury both move down four spots
• Adrian Mundwiler and Rogelio Gamboa both move up four spots
• Rasmus Anderson and Cody Anderson exchange spots 8th and 10th, otherwise no change in the top ten

2018 WOMEN

2018
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Tia-Clair Toomey	1	1	0
Laura Horváth	2	2	0
Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir	3	3	0
Kara Saunders	4	4	0
Annie Thorisdottir	5	5	0
Kari Pearce	6	6	0
Kristin Holte	7	8	-1
Brooke Wells	8	7	1
Kristi Eramo O’Connell	9	11	-2
Cassidy Lance-McWherter	10	9	1
Jamie Simmonds	11	10	1
Tennil Beuerlein	12	12	0
Camille Leblanc-Bazinet	13	13	0
Alessandra Pichelli	14	14	0
Amanda Barnhart	15	17	-2
Bethany Flores	16	16	0
Ehea Schuerch	17	15	2
Mekenzie Riley	18	19	-1
Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault	19	18	1
Madeline Sturt	20	20	0
Chyna Cho	21	22	-1
Margaux Alvarez	22	21	1
Courtney Haley	23	23	0
Camilla Salomonsson Hellman	24	24	0
Chloe Gauvin-David	25	25	0
Eik Gylfadottir	26	27	-1
Rebecca Voigt Miller	27	26	1
Whitney Gelin	28	29	-1
Brista Mayfield	29	28	1
Meredith Root	30	32	-2
Lauren Fisher	31	30	1
Paige Semenza	32	31	1
Dani Horan	33	33	0
Brenda Castro	34	34	0
Stephanie Chung	35	35	0
Jennifer Smith	36	36	0
Sara Sigmundsdottir	37	37	0
Justine Beath	38	38	0
Emily Bridgers	39	39	0
Michele Fumagalli	40	40	0

• 8 women end up placing worse
• 10 women end up placing better
• No shift of greater than two spots this year, but Kristi Eramo O’Connell drops out of the top ten with Jamie Simmonds sliding into the 10 spot.

2021 MEN

2021
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Justin Medeiros	1	1	0
Patrick Vellner	2	2	0
Brent Fikowski	3	4	-1
Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson	4	6	-2
Saxon Panchik	5	3	2
Jonne Koski	6	7	-1
Guilherme Malheiros	7	5	2
Alex Vigneault	8	9	-1
Lazar Đukić	9	11	-2
Noah Ohlsen	10	8	2
Scott Panchik	11	10	1
Travis Mayer	12	13	-1
Jeffrey Adler	13	12	1
Cole Sager*	14	21	-7
André Houdet	15	15	0
Royce Dunne	16	14	2
Bayden Brown	17	17	0
Henrik Haapalainen	18	19	-1
Jayson Hopper	19	18	1
Will Moorad	20	16	4
Chandler Smith**	21	20	1
Jay Crouch	22	22	0
Samuel Cournoyer	23	23	0
Alexandre Caron	24	24	0
Uldis Upenieks	25	25	0
Jason Smith	26	26	0
Brandon Luckett	27	28	-1
Tim Paulson	28	27	1
Luka Đukić*	29	31	-2
Zach Watts	30	29	1
Colten Mertens***	31	30	1
Agustin Richelme	32	33	-1
Giorgos Karavis	33	32	1
Rogelio Gamboa	34	34	0
Adrian Mundwiler	35	35	0
Sean Sweeney	36	36	0
Sam Stewart	37	37	0
Aleksandar Ilin	38	38	0
*Missed a cut without swim event
**Advanced to Event 11-15 without swim event
***Advanced to Event 10 without swim event

• Please note the asterisk’s as some changes occur on the cut line without the swim
• 11 men move down the leaderboard
• 13 men move up the leaderboard
• Cole Sager drops down 7 spots, the most we’ve seen yet (because of the cut situation)
• Fikowski drops down one spot, which means he misses the podium
• Saxon Panchik moves up to spots and would have a podium finish to his credit
• Further down the leaderboard Will Moorad moves up 4 spots

2021 WOMEN

2021
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Tia-Clair Toomey	1	1	0
Laura Horváth	2	2	0
Annie Thorisdottir	3	3	0
Kristin Holte	4	4	0
Haley Adams	5	6	-1
Gabriela Migała	6	5	1
Mallory O’Brien	7	7	0
Kristi Eramo O’Connell	8	9	-1
Amanda Barnhart	9	8	1
Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir	10	11	-1
Danielle Brandon	11	10	1
Emma McQuaid	12	12	0
Thuridur Erla Helgadottir	13	14	-1
Arielle Loewen	14	13	1
Emily Rolfe	15	16	-1
Emma Cary	16	17	-1
Jacqueline Dahlstrøm	17	15	2
Baylee Rayl	18	18	0
Emma Tall*	19	23	-4
Brooke Wells	20	20	0
Samantha Briggs	21	21	0
Alessandra Pichelli**	22	19	3
Mekenzie Riley	23	28	-5
Laura Clifton	24	25	-1
Sydney Michalyshen	25	22	3
Ellie Turner	26	27	-1
Carolyne Prevost	27	26	1
Jessica Griffith	28	24	4
Emilia Leppänen*	29	31	-2
Regan Huckaby	30	30	0
Sasha Nievas***	31	29	2
Michelle Basnett	32	32	0
Caroline Spencer	33	33	0
Seungyeon Choi	34	34	0
Dani Speegle	35	35	0
Kara Saunders	36	36	0
*Missed a cut without swim event
**Advanced to Event 11-15 without swim event
***Advanced to Event 10 without swim event

• Please note the asterisk’s as some changes occur on the cut line without the swim
• 11 women move down 
• 10 women move up
• Mekenzie Riley moves down five spots, Emma Tall moves down 4 (and effects the cut line)
• Jessica Griffit moves up 4 and Sydney Michalyshen moves up 3
• Katrin Davidsdottir and Danielle Brandon exchange positions giving Brandon the 10 spot

2022 MEN

2022
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Justin Medeiros	1	1	0
Roman Khrennikov	2	2	0
Ricky Garard	3	3	0
Samuel Kwant	4	5	-1
Jeffrey Adler	5	4	1
Patrick Vellner	6	6	0
Jayson Hopper	7	7	0
Lazar Đukić	8	10	-2
Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson	9	9	0
Guilherme Malheiros	10	8	2
Saxon Panchik	11	11	0
Noah Ohlsen	12	12	0
Cole Sager	13	15	-2
Nick Mathew	14	13	1
Jonne Koski	15	17	-2
Brent Fikowski	16	18	-2
Willy Georges	17	14	3
Travis Mayer	18	16	2
Dallin Pepper	19	21	-2
Spencer Panchik	20	19	1
Uldis Upenieks	21	20	1
Will Moorad	22	23	-1
Tim Paulson	23	22	1
Henrik Haapalainen	24	25	-1
Alex Vigneault	25	27	-2
Guillaume Briant	26	28	-2
André Houdet	27	24	3
Jay Crouch	28	26	2
Enrico Zenoni	29	29	0
Alexandre Caron	30	30	0
Bayden Brown	31	32	-1
Colten Mertens	32	31	1
Cole Greashaber	33	36	-3
Tudor Magda	34	33	1
Austin Spencer	35	34	1
Moritz Fiebig	36	35	1
Giorgos Karavis	37	37	0
Agustin Richelme	38	38	0
Arthur Semenov	39	39	0
Kealan Henry	40	40	0

• 12 men move down the leaderboard
• 14 men move up
• Cole Greashaber takes the biggest hit dropping three places
• Both Willy Georges and Andre Houdet move up three
• Some shifting of positions in the top ten, but no one drops out or moves in

2022 WOMEN

2022
Athlete	All Events	No Swim	Delta
Tia-Clair Toomey	1	1	0
Mallory O’Brien	2	2	0
Laura Horváth	3	3	0
Danielle Brandon	4	4	0
Brooke Wells	5	6	-1
Emma Lawson	6	5	1
Kara Saunders	7	8	-1
Gabriela Migała	8	7	1
Haley Adams	9	10	-1
Alexis Raptis	10	9	1
Arielle Loewen	11	12	-1
Emma McQuaid	12	11	1
Kristi Eramo O’Connell	13	13	0
Amanda Barnhart	14	16	-2
Jacqueline Dahlstrøm	15	14	1
Lucy Campbell	16	18	-2
Dani Speegle	17	15	2
Ellie Turner	18	17	1
Matilde Garnes	19	21	-2
Karin Freyová	20	20	0
Paige Semenza	21	19	2
Thuridur Erla Helgadottir	22	22	0
Carolyne Prevost	23	23	0
Alex Gazan	24	24	0
Paige Powers	25	27	-2
Seungyeon Choi	26	25	1
Christine Kolenbrander	27	26	1
Baylee Rayl	28	29	-1
Seher Kaya	29	28	1
Rebecca Fuselier	30	30	0
Sydney Michalyshen	31	31	0
Freya Moosbrugger	32	34	-2
Victoria Campos	33	32	1
Solveig Sigurdardottir	34	36	-2
Elisa Fuliano	35	33	2
Caroline Spencer	36	35	1
Julia Kato	37	38	-1
Elena Carratala Sanahuja	38	37	1
Michelle Merand	39	39	0
Emily Rolfe	40	40	0

• 12 women drop down the leaderboard absent the swim
• 15 women move up
• Despite such a high number of changes, none of them are more than 2 spots this year

Big Picture Takeaways

For the women, over this five year period of time, there were only nine changes of three spots or more. So nothing wildly significant in that regard. However, the change of the overall winner in 2017 is a very notable difference that season if the competition had not included a swim.

On the men’s side there were more sizable changes; including 20 changes of 3 spots or more. In terms of podium changes there was nothing as dramatic as the women’s, but we did see an exchange of podium positions in 2016 (Vellner and Ben Smith) and also saw Saxon Panchik claim a podium spot from Fikowski in 2021. 

2023 CrossFit Games Notes and Observations

On average, Jonne Koski drops two spots without a swim, meaning he may have finished even higher than 6th if there was one this year. 

Although Pat Vellner seems to be plagued by swimming at the Games, he has been at each of the five Games in this study, and he only improved by one spot total across those five seasons when swimming was removed. It is not the reason he hasn’t won the CrossFit Games, and his second place this year is not because swimming wasn’t included. 

Similarly, Brent Fikowski’s career finishes are largely unchanged by the omission of the swimming test. While Vellner gains one spot over those five years, Fikowski loses one… total. These two are just fit regardless and would have similarly impressive careers with or without swimming at the Games.

Kristi Eramo O’Connell loses at least one spot in four of the five seasons we studied, she is the most negatively impacted athlete in the women’s field if swimming doesn’t show up. 

Other than here there aren’t even any really notable women towards the top to study in this regard, the changes are very minor on the women’s side, especially towards the top of the leaderboard.

Do We Need Swimming at the Games?

This question was asked of me during the 2023 Games as speculation began to run high about the possibility of there not being a swimming test this season, and it certainly had me thinking. 

While I do think a fit human being should have the capacity to swim, tread water, and survive in water for a period of time, I don’t necessarily think it needs to be present for the test to be valid in terms of finding the fittest. 

Tracing back to what was said in the opening, there is an unpredictable nature of this sport that is at its core. In that regard, not knowing for sure that we’re swimming every year is a good thing and welcomed thing. Swimming should be included more often than it’s not, but doesn’t need to be there every year. I also wouldn’t mind having two swims during the course of the test at some point.