At the 2023 TYR Wodapalooza at Bay Front Park in Miami, FL, all the Individual competitors had a crack at a one-rep max clean & jerk in the event “We Have Lift Off.” Below are seven lifts from that event across all divisions that deserve a second look.
*Editor’s note: there were several impressive lifts in the team and adaptive competitions. However, they were not clean & jerks, which this article highlights.
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1. Guilherme Malheiros (Elite Men) — 395 pounds
Malheiros said this was his lifetime best clean & jerk. It is somewhat unknown where it ranks all-time in terms of heaviest lift in a CrossFit competition. We saw several lifts of 400-plus pounds in 2015 during the Open, but that’s not a live competition.
Three hundred eighty-seven pounds is the heaviest recorded lift in a live competition during the CrossFit Games season — WZA is notably not part of the season. Regardless, Malheiros continues to impress in lifting events every time he takes the floor. If he is ever in a one-rep max event in a high-pressure situation, he’s likely worth doubling your bet.
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2. Tudor Magda (Elite Men) — 386 pounds
Malheiros overshadowed him, but Magda’s lifts of 335, 365, and 386 pounds in his three successive attempts were flawless. It looked like he had 10 more pounds in the tank when locking out his final attempt and could have made a stab at taking the event win.
Regardless, Magda’s 386 pounds was 19 pounds clear of the third-place lift. In any competition not featuring Malheiros, Magda would likely win a max lift event. Malheiros is young at 22, but Magda is even younger at 19. Both men will be around for years to come, and it’s only a matter of time before one of them cleans & jerks 400 pounds in live competition.
3. CeCe Cronin (Elite Women) — 256 pounds
It isn’t a record, but it was an event win. Cronin has had some impressive lifts in the past, but what stands out from Wodapalooza is her lift earned the event win over Dani Speegle. It’s a rare feat for Speegle not to decimate the competition in a heavy-lifting event.
Cronin competed in the Teams division in the past — ranking 13th with Ohio Brutes at the 2021 CrossFit Games when her surname was still Piper. Tracking her lifting prowess isn’t as cut and dry as with Individual competitors. Still, if she finds herself in an Individual competition again, she’ll be on everyone’s radar for the heavy-lifting events.
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4. Ryan Rettke (Masters Men 45-49) — 300 pounds
Rettke was the oldest man to clean & jerk 300 pounds at Wodapalooza, and he finished second overall in his division. His lift was 13 pounds more than the event runner-up Jason Grubb, who ultimately won the division at the end of the weekend.
5. Gianna Titus (Masters Women 60+) — 146 pounds
Titus beat the next closest lifter in her division by 11 pounds — nearly eight percent). Winning a lift in any division by such a margin is impressive. It’s all the more remarkable that Titus generated such a stat by locking out nearly 150 pounds overhead in the eldest Masters division.
6. Yezo Cunha (Boys 13-15) — 285 pounds
A lot of men in their 20s and 30s would love to hit the 285 pounds that Cunha scored for his clean & jerk. It was impressive for a younger athlete to post such a lift that would have been enough for 36th place among the elite men.
7. Bernardo Jardim (Boys 16-18) — 335 pounds
This lift beat the next closest competitor in his division by a whopping 29 pounds. He would have beaten 12 men in the elite Individual men’s division, tied for fifth in the Rx men’s division, and tied for first in the intermediate men’s division.
Featured image: @wodapalooza on Instagram
