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We cover the sport of CrossFit from all angles. We talk with athletes, coaches and celebrities that compete and surround in the sport of CrossFit at all levels. We also bring you Breaking News, Human Interest Stories and report on the Methodology of CrossFit. We also use the methodology to make ourselves the fittest we can be.
What is going on, everybody?
Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
My name is Scott Switzer.
My co-host Jamie Latimer is
with us for this one.
And we're so honored and
privileged as we are
highlighting the athletes
of the 2024 CrossFit Games semifinals.
We have Tudor Magda with us.
What's going on, Tudor?
Good, good.
Thanks for having me on.
So I've been super excited to have you on.
I've been following your
career since you were a teenager.
My first question to you is,
what's it like being a
champion in the teen
division and then leveling
up to the elite division
where you're just like
another athlete in this big pond?
Man, I mean,
I think it gave me some
experience being in the teen division,
but it's different.
I mean,
It seems like everything
kind of speeds up.
You hit the elite division.
It takes a bit mentally to
kind of slow it down around you,
competition to competition.
And that's what I'm doing
right now is just getting
the reps in the elite
division to continue moving forward.
But, yeah,
it did give me some experience
for sure in teens and winning that.
I think understanding myself
and how I compete
So when you were a teen,
you're known for your strength, right?
Were you the strongest kid
in the teen division?
Not particularly starting out.
I think I was probably
middle of the pack in
strength when I just
entered the teen division.
So like the first 14, 15 rank.
And yeah,
and then eventually I started
getting stronger in 2018.
That was my second year.
and just kind of improved
from there I think my body
grew into itself a little
bit and you're the same age
as dylan and james sprig
right I think yeah almost
um I am almost the same age
as them but I have a good
birthday a year younger
than them chronologically
what what a hot bit of
talent in the pacific northwest
I know, man.
We have – who else do we have here?
Cole and Sam,
both trained with both those guys.
The dude's really awesome, guys.
And obviously, lots of good guys.
Justin as well.
Yeah, it's crazy how, like,
the country has these
little hotbeds all over the place,
and the Pacific Northwest
is becoming a big one.
Yeah, sure.
So last year at West Coast,
or I keep calling it that.
It wasn't called that last year.
North America West.
Jamie actually had the honor
of interviewing you after the run, snatch,
snatch, run kind of double.
And I'm going to play that.
And then I want to use that
as a segue into some other questions.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm here with Tudor Magda,
just finished test four and five.
Started with Linda today,
went pretty well for you.
Yeah,
I think I got stuck in my heat and I
made that push at the end, so.
You were hungry today, I'm assuming, yeah?
Yeah, definitely, yeah.
325.
Yeah.
Does the limit exist?
I hope not.
I hope I can keep climbing,
but I'd love it if the
other stuff could climb with it.
We'll work on that.
So that's the part I really
wanted to get into is Jamie
asked you about your 325 pound snatch.
And then you immediately said,
I wish everything else
would climb with it.
Yeah, correct.
So I know you've made some
coaching changes before last season.
Yeah.
And this season,
when we watch you in the
Open and quarterfinals,
it was obvious you have
made significant growth in
those other areas.
What happened with that change?
First person that said that,
thank you so much.
What?
Yeah, thank you.
We've been talking about that.
Definitely.
probably but like um no what
change what changes have I
made is that what you were
trying to go for yeah yeah
yeah um so basically um
I've been working with a
running coach his name's uh
rich and uh he I kind of he
joined the team after rogue
last year and I feel like
my my engines has gotten a
lot better since working with him um
Obviously,
I'm proud of my efforts in the
opening quarterfinals,
but I'm really pumped to
see how it'll translate at
a live competition where it matters most.
You know,
sometimes the nerves get to you
if you have an event that
previously you haven't done too well at.
And so I want to see how I
manage that moving into
this semifinal next week.
So Jamie and I have a show
on Sunday nights with
Carolyn Prevo where we just
talk about the news of CrossFit.
And Jamie and I both picked
you as one to watch this
season after your open performance.
Thank you.
And the reason I say that is
you were doing things in
the open that you're not
typically good at very well.
It's not about your overall placement.
It was about he's taken
things that were once a
weakness and he's crushing them.
How did that make you feel?
I think it gave me a boost
of confidence going into
training and continuing to
push it in training, push the intensity.
Honestly, it's hard to tell in the open.
You can't really put too
much stock in it because
you don't know where other
people are at in their
season and what they're
working on at that point
because they're working
Because some guys can just
run a few weeks and then
get back into tip-top
running shape heading into
a live competition.
But I was proud with the
movements that did show up
that I was able to hold my own.
I feel like I was able to
hold my own on...
fast cadence burpees uh
rowing you know a moderate
pace for a long time domain
as well as like thrusters
and pull-ups like really
spiked heart rate being
able to move through that
which all three of those
would have given me trouble
in the past jamie I'm gonna
let you follow up if you
have anything here yeah I
mean for me like
watching you and I and I
wish I knew like more of
like your specific
performances in your teen
life um it's easy for me to
like get behind you and a
lot of people because you
are capable of those home
run hits with the strength
you're great on your hands
and that so like knowing
someone's gonna walk out
and probably be like top
two in a two in a workout
you're you know it's easy
to cheer for you um
And for me in the past,
and I was like with Rogue, I was like, oh,
this one's going to suck
for him or whatever.
And I was really excited
once I saw the open.
So I guess what I don't
really know specifically is,
because he can see I'm walking,
you're great.
So would you say it's like,
is that the only gymnastics
movement that you're
greater or do you have like,
specific gymnastics things
that you're incredible at
or have you always been
incredible at rings um
because we know you're
great with a barbell yeah I
mean it's it's hard to know
you know until you step on
that competition floor
honestly the handstand
stuff I've always been good
at handstand walk handstand
push-up um even on the
competition floor um
because I did spend so much
time on my hands growing up,
like just for fun at the gym.
I've been, you know,
in the CrossFit gym since I
was nine years old.
And that's kind of what I
love to do is those skills.
For some reason,
being on my hands was just
the most fun for me.
I remember I was walking up
the parking lot in my apartment complex,
which is like an incline, very
low uh small angle incline
up on my hands all the way
up and you know making
little challenges like that
but um other other stuff
like rings um I've been
working a lot on sometimes
it was easy for me to just
muscle through those
movements at the scene and
not worry about them too
much but the higher volume
is something that I've been
working on as I'm in this elite division
Yeah.
I mean, cause you took 10 in the, um,
in quarterfinals with,
with a lot of gymnastics in there,
the strict handstand pushup,
the rope climb, the ring muscle up.
Um,
and that was your best performance in
quarterfinals.
So like that scene,
that is super exciting as a fan of yours.
Um, and like you said, the burpees, um,
would you,
would you say typically the
shorter high power quick
workouts were better for
you as opposed to like a
long grindy 20 minute?
I think in the quarterfinals, yes.
In the way that I felt like
the burpees kind of were a
shock for me a little bit.
I think they were for people
too towards the top.
It just was more of a grindy
workout than I expected it to be,
more of a lower leg burner.
And so I didn't do as well
as I'd hoped now.
But I think that I was even
– regardless of the –
you know the first round
second round that that
feeling kind of crept up on
me but I was still able to
finish strong so I'm I'm
proud of my effort there
and I did make improvement
if they had like 150
burpees burpee box jump
overs last year in quarters
probably would have been a
huge detriment for me but
this year was a little
better so improvement all
is all I can ask for
For sure.
I think I'm super excited to
see you do workout one of semis,
especially hearing that
you've been working with a running coach.
Like I feel like that that's
going to be like the true test for you.
It gets your barbell cycling in there,
but can we run and keep that up?
Yeah, I agree.
And regardless, you know,
that's just event one of the weekend.
So being able to show up after that,
regardless of the outcome,
I know that I can, oh, for sure,
improve from what I was
last year in the first event,
the long event last year at semifinals.
And, you know, if I see improvement there,
you know,
and then I'll move on for the
rest of the weekend.
Are you happy it's a foot
race instead of a machine?
Oh, yes.
I'm excited for that.
I think it'll play out
better for me in a
competition to where I can
see athletes around me moving.
And I think I thrive off of
that more rather than being on a machine.
I think it was a couple of
years ago at Zalos is when
you kind of announced that
you had a new coach.
Is that who you're still with today?
Yeah, his name's Ed.
And yeah, I'm still with him today.
I I've seen him at events
and I don't think there's a
more active coach.
Maybe him and Justin Cutler
both like could race around the,
the event floor as much as they move.
He also seems like a great hype man.
Like it encourages you when you need it.
Is that something you need in your,
in your circle?
I mean, yeah,
he's filled that role to a T
as a great encourager,
and he works a lot as well
on analytics and programming,
just as much as he's
putting in a lot of effort
working with other specialist coaches.
Like another coach I have, Zach, who is –
is a part of conjugate and
works with me on like accessories and, uh,
power lifting.
But yeah, he,
he brings the whole team
around me and I'm super grateful for him.
So other than like programming,
is there anything else you
had to dial in in your life
to get better at this sport?
Um, like off the floor?
I mean, to be honest, yeah,
I'm still dialing in the
balance aspect and, and, um,
just my mentality
approaching the sport in
general and not being as
all or nothing and trying
to have more longevity in
how I approach my training
and the sport in general.
And I'm still working on that.
I'm nowhere close to like
being at optimal right now,
but it's just a process of
trying new things and
improving between the years.
Are you a full-time athlete?
Are you in school?
Right now, I'm basically full-time.
I'm taking one class at school,
and I'm just chipping away.
CrossFit is my first love,
but I'm also chipping away
at an engineering degree.
So no small feat there either.
Well, I mean, I'm going pretty slow at it,
so it's grinding,
but I'm taking a math class.
It keeps my mind a little
bit off of being stressed
out for semifinals and stuff,
just to have one thing to
do throughout the week.
Does it help you be able to
add plates fast?
I don't know about that, but maybe.
Yeah.
So Europe went this morning on event one.
Did you get a chance to look
at them at all?
I kind of scanned through
the live stream a little bit.
But yeah, I think I like that.
I hope they have a ring like
they did there where we all
face each other.
That'd be pretty cool.
Yeah,
there's a lot of rumors out there for
West because you're at that
iconic location.
And Boz said on Barbell Spin,
I think a week and a half ago,
that the run was going to be iconic.
And Carson's known for that berm.
If...
I've heard rumors of a hill.
That's what I've heard.
I don't know how accurate,
but I've heard rumors of an
out and up and then back down.
Does it matter to you?
Um,
I think it matters in my approach on
the on game day,
but you can't simulate here
in training like you can't
simulate what the course is
going to feel like or what
it's going to be.
But I have trained on hills
before so I know how to
kind of shift my strategy around that.
Jeffrey Birchfield asks,
how many hours a semester.
hours a semester per um I
think if if he's referring
to classes uh it'd be
probably three hours right
now it's quarter the
quarter system where I'm at
um it's only like two and a
half months of school for
this quarter uh yeah three
hours on a weekly basis
last quarter I think a lab two six seven
eight eight hours uh eight
or nine hours per week so
it's not that it's it's not
a full course load at all
it's just uh like I said
chipping away yeah uh
jeffrey's a teacher in
texas so that that's why
he's all into that awesome
yeah um so so you've
changed coaches in in your
circle what who are you
taking with you to carson
uh I think all my coaches
are going to be the
Yeah, all of them.
Ed's going to be with me in
the warm area and then I'll
have them hustling around
the venue and I'll get to
meet with them before
events and stuff like that.
Family?
Yeah,
both my parents and my little brother
will be there too as well.
Yeah.
I've heard from the people
at the pit that your family
are super supportive.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I couldn't do this without them.
Yeah.
They're, they're really supportive,
especially with school and,
and training and stuff.
And you know,
I'm just helping me follow my
dream and hopefully one day
I can give it back and an equal measure.
Does your family CrossFit?
Yeah.
All of them.
Yeah.
Do you live at home?
I do, yeah.
I live home right now.
I lived on campus for a while,
but then I moved back home.
And I'm sure you guys know
that I was in Iowa.
I lived there.
Okay.
So this year,
we were all excited about
your open finish,
and then we saw you got the penalty.
Yeah, yeah.
Was it good to get that in
the open just as like
training the mindset that
that's just one setback and
you have to be able to move on from that?
Exactly.
I would rather it happen in
the open than in quarters.
And I think that...
It taught me a lesson that
could have been pretty
costly if I didn't learn
that lesson in the Open because it was,
for me, it was a hip extension.
It was the same thing on the
step-ups this year for some athletes.
And, you know,
I have sympathy for that
because it's tough because
you want to go fast.
And I really had to slow
myself down on the step-ups.
But, yeah.
Like,
I think I was blessed because the penalty,
it didn't seem like that at first.
A little bit frustrated.
But I did know that my abs
were pretty on the line.
Like,
I totally pulled hard to leave the
penalty,
but I was just kind of bummed out.
It worked out in the end.
Yeah, that's tough.
I mean, we saw...
Lots of videos that probably
had very similar reps here.
So it's in,
but it's a great perspective to
just take that hit there
and move better moving forward.
Cause yeah,
it could have been way more
costly in quarters.
Yeah.
I mean, ending a season because of is,
is tough.
I'm sure all those athletes
will bounce back.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm just happy that,
that it happened.
I did.
Yeah, for you, it just cost you the win,
which would have been a
nice little check in that event.
But your season got to keep going.
Exactly, exactly.
Yeah.
And I like the fact that you
had to face that little bit
of adversity going into the
year just to kind of test
all the stuff you've
learned in the offseason.
Yeah.
yeah yeah and and adversity
is something that I've uh
you know worked on trying
to how to face it you know
uh sometimes in the past I
was a little bit hesitant
to to do hard things and
the workouts that came
naturally to me like the
events that I was naturally
good at like a handstand
walk I was I was confident
in them and then other ones
I lost that that confidence
heading into them and
because they were challenging and new.
So having that little bit of
adversity is always good to
get those reps in for when
it matters most.
So when you look at the semifinal workouts,
at the very end of the weekend,
you have two things that
would be typically a tutor workout.
Like we don't know the
details of the handstand walk,
but we know you're great on your hands.
And we know that you can snatch a barbell.
yeah are you more excited
for those two events or are
you more excited for the
other four to see how far you've come
Um, I, I would say the latter,
I I'm excited for the other
four to see how far I've
come because I know that, um, those,
those two workouts you just
listed will be a home run.
If not, you know, if not top five,
but like really good finishes for me.
Like, um, so, but I'm,
I'm excited to see how all
the other stuff has progressed as well.
How do you – and I'm sure
you and your coaches have a game plan,
but knowing that you get to
finish the weekend with two home runs,
how do you keep your mind
in the game on the four
that might be a little bit tougher?
I mean, you just take it one at a time.
And, you know,
if you receive some
adversity where you're in
or whatever's happening in
the back of your head, you've got –
two things that are lined up
really well for you at the
end of the weekend
historically and uh you
know just moving moving
forward with that that
thought in mind and how are
you on an echo um I've
gotten better I would say
uh last year I i was pretty
uh middle of the pack in
those events the last last
year I took 18th I think
and um I would say improved
from that where I was there awesome
If you had to name one thing
that you got better at the most,
what would that one thing be?
I would say rowing, to be honest.
For some reason, the whole season,
my rowing splits and the
workouts that I've been
doing on that have...
have been way better than I
would have ever expected them to be.
And not to say all the other
stuff hasn't progressed,
but I'm really proud of the
work I've put in that, for sure.
So you've never had the
opportunity to compete in Carson.
You missed it by one year.
Are you excited to go to
Carson and compete on that floor?
I mean, like I said,
I've been doing CrossFit
since I was nine years old,
but I've also watched the
game since they were on
ESPN back when Rich Froning
was winning in Carson.
So, yeah,
I'm super excited to kind of see
the nostalgia aspect of the
sport and compete there now.
So that's pretty cool.
Will it be hard to contain?
I talked to one athlete a
couple days ago who said
he's so afraid on that run
that he's going to blow it
out right off the get-go
because he's going to be so
excited to be on the tennis
stadium floor.
Do you have any fears like that?
Yeah, I mean, for sure.
I think that the excitement
can sometimes hurt you,
but you just got to breathe and just...
Take in the sights after the
event is done.
Don't worry too much about
what's going on around you
until you got the work done.
Then you can appreciate where you're at.
That's really cool.
What is your realistic goal
for this season?
I think I want to qualify to the games.
I want to punch my ticket.
That's my goal, number one.
And, you know, train hard for the games.
I think that I want to show
that I can be a mentally improved
Do you have – you said – I
think you broke up a little
bit when you said it,
that you've trained a
little bit with Sam and
Cole at some points in the offseason.
Is that something you do regularly?
I have in the past,
but not this past year.
I did train a little with James Craig,
though.
Okay.
Yeah.
Does that help break up just
the monotony of training?
Yeah, yeah, I mean,
whenever I do see him every
once in a while,
it's probably a little bit
in the offseason too much.
But it does, it helps to kind of, you know,
see where a close caliber
athlete to you is at in their training.
And, yeah, yeah.
So my last question before we let you go,
and I'll open it up to Jamie,
is you have someone like
James who is like a machine master,
right?
And that's something that
you've improved on this year.
Is it good to get to compare
yourself against him on
those types of things if
you train together for a day?
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, if anything,
it'll humble you to work
harder to get as close as
you can to whatever you're putting up.
And I'm totally okay with
that and bringing that data
into my own training.
Jamie?
I'm just excited to watch you work.
Like, I know for me,
workout one would be
stressful for me because I would want to,
like, run with the pack, but also, like,
also run my own race.
And like, I think fortunately for you,
you've had quite a bit of
competition experience, but does that,
does that like,
does that kind of stuff make you nervous?
Cause like redlining too early,
like blowing up too early
in a workout like that just
is one of my like panic
modes when I go to comps.
yeah I mean I think that's
the workout that I've run
through my head the most um
and just different ways
that I'm gonna talk to
myself and make sure that I
stay in it for the entire
20 plus minutes of work um
I think that you know
historically in those
longer events there's a
point where I either in the
workout I either
it's like a precipice where
I start to like snowball
downhill or or I just
continue on and it actually
I get a second wind and I'm
I get to push push hard to the end.
So I think that make sure
that I stay in my own lane
for the beginning and then
finding that second wind
towards the end will be
really important for me for
my performance.
yeah do you like to chase or
be chased um I mean I I
think I would in that event
I would probably chase at
the beginning and uh and
try and push the pace on
the clean and jerks but uh
yeah I mean going into
strategy yeah that's kind
of what I was thinking but um
Being chased would be a privilege for me.
I think if you're good
enough to start at the
beginning of the pack and
then continue on and just have a lead,
that's cool.
Well, Tudor,
I want to thank you a ton for
being on with us.
We love doing these semifinal series,
and I'm glad we finally got
you on the show.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jamie.
Appreciate you guys having me.
And good luck, Carson.
We'll be rooting for you.
Thank you.
Thank you to everybody in
the chat for being here.
We'll see everybody next
time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
Bye, guys.