G.O.A.T.
Last updated on August 1st, 2025
Sports are unpredictable, but one thing that has generally remained consistent is that when it comes to running and rowing in CrossFit, women often struggle to keep up with men.
- The physical gap between men and women in these movements is often seen as a clear biological dividing line – one that’s rarely crossed.
But during the first event of the 2025 CrossFit Games in Albany, NY, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Aimee Cringle crossed that line in a big way, out-running and out-rowing 19 and 18 of the 30 men, respectively, in the opening event.
Remind me: Friday’s first event – ”Run/Row/Run” – was a grueling test of a four-mile run, a 3,000-meter row before a final two-mile run.
- Toomey-Orr crossed the finish line in 49:49, the exact same time as Ty Jenkins, who took 11th on the men’s leaderboard.
Not to be outdone, the Cringle finished in 50:16, good enough for 13th in the men’s competition.
- Worth noting: The next four women finishers on Friday’s first event — Lucy Campbell, Haley Adams, Arielle Loewen, and Mirjam von Rohr — also gave several men a run for their money.
Campbell’s time was faster than 11 of them, while Adams bested 10 men, Loewen beat nine, and von Rohr seven.
One big thing: Rowing — a sport where heavier and taller athletes usually dominate — is arguably more difficult for women to compete with men, since men are generally physically larger.
- In 2018, for example, Toomey-Orr’s marathon row time would have been 36th out of 39 men.
The fact that Toomey-Orr and Cringle managed to beat nearly two-thirds of the men in an event with 3,000 meters of rowing is especially impressive.
Battle of the Sexes?
This isn’t the first time Toomey-Orr has been able to keep up with and outperform much of the men’s field in an event we would expect men to dominate.
In fact, over the last decade, Toomey-Orr has consistently outperformed men in mass-start endurance events that include running, swimming, and paddling.
In 2019, during “Swim Paddle” with a 1,000-meter swim and a 1,000-meter paddle on a kneeling paddleboard, Toomey-Orr even recorded the fastest time of any competitor, man or woman.
Five other notable performances include:
- 2024: Toomey-Orr’s performance on “Lake Day,” a three-and-a-half-mile run followed by an 800-meter swim, would have been enough for third place overall on the men’s leaderboard.
- 2021: Toomey-Orr’s performance in “Event 1,” a one-mile swim with fins followed by a three-mile kayak paddle, would have placed sixth among the men.
- 2017: Toomey-Orr’s time on “Run/Swim/Run,” a one-and-a-half-mile run, 500-meter swim, and a one-and-a-half-mile run, was the second fastest among all competitors, behind only Brent Fikowski.
- 2016: Toomey-Orr’s time in “Ocean Swim,” a 500-meter swim, would have ranked fifth in the men’s competition.
- 2015: Again, Toomey-Orr’s time on “Pier-Paddle,” a 500-meter swim, a two-mile paddle, and another 500-meter swim, would have been good enough for fifth place against the men.
The Big Picture
Since the early days of CrossFit, one of the sport’s defining values has been equality.
- Unlike many other sports, men and women have always competed on the same stage, been tested by the same events, and been awarded the same prize money.
And, over the years, women have consistently proven that they can go toe-to-toe with men in many movements. But when it comes to endurance tests like running and especially rowing, men still arguably hold the physical advantage.
This is what makes Toomey-Orr and Cringle’s performances in Friday’s “Run/Row/Run” so important, as they not only outperformed most of the men in a running and rowing event, but they beat most of the fittest men in the world.
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Featured Image: Scott Freymond
