TYR Wodapalooza Miami, the wintertime fitness festival that draws huge crowds and elite CrossFitters from around the world, is moving from Bayfront Park to Miami Beach.
- We sat down with Dylan Malitsky, VP of Loud and Live Sports, to get the scoop on what prompted the move and what fans and athletes can expect from the competition in 2025.
Remind me: For 12 years, TYR Wodapalooza has been one of the premier competitions outside of the CrossFit Games. The event always falls in the bleak winter and draws hordes of fans and athletes from around the globe to compete in the Miami party vibe. The 2025 competition takes place from January 23 to 26.
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Malitsky has been with TYR WZA from the start, first as a volunteer, then as an emcee, then as media director, and now as VP of Loud and Live Sports, organizer of TYR WZA Miami and TYR WZA SoCal.
In the last couple of years, TYR WZA has struggled with the maximum spectator capacity in the stands at Bayfront Park, leading to long lines and even more frustration.
- “We were starting to burst at the seams as far as what we could do from a competition perspective,” Malitsky told Morning Chalk Up.
This led Malitsky to look elsewhere for a new home for the event.
- “The reception we got from the city of Miami Beach, which is a completely different municipality, was over the moon about us,” Malitsky said.
The hope is that Miami Beach will become the long-term home of TYR Wodapalooza and that the event can grow into the bigger space.
- “The event is going to be between 6th and 10th Street on the beach, on Ocean Drive on the sand,” Malitsky said. “This just opens up the playbook for us to really ideate and create this thing exactly as we see fit. [With] Bayfront Park, we were sort of locked into a certain type of logistical flow.”
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He adds that the location is much like the TYR Wodapalooza SoCal location in Huntington Beach and is a blank canvas when it comes to floor design and workout possibilities. That said, there will be some limitations at first.
Wodapalooza has always had a swim component to the competition, but that won’t be the case in 2025. In part, it’s due to the challenges that come with moving to a new location and municipality.
- “It would be a logistical challenge and we really want to grow into our footprint within the beach, so we didn’t want to do too much too fast,” Malitsky said.
He reassures that water events will return in the future.
- “I think people are excited about the change of pace after 12 years in Bayfront Park, and I also think that they’re looking for something to put their energy and attention towards. [And there’s] no better way or place than to do it in front of a packed crowd in Miami,” Malitsky said.
Athletes can expect to see workout inspiration from both the qualifier workouts and the SoCal competition. While Malitsky didn’t share any exact workouts, he urged competitors to take a look at some of the events from Huntington Beach.
- “I would definitely look there for ways to train, even, for example, the stages are going to feel very similar to how they looked in Huntington Beach,” Malitsky said.
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The move is just the start of a new era for Wodapalooza, and Malitsky said the municipality was excited about the possibility of the event coming to the area right from the beginning.
- “It became very much a mutual attraction. They are pushing us to come there and really make it something that will benefit us for the long term, and it’s as much our desire to make Miami Beach our long-term home as it is for the city of Miami Beach,” he said.
The 2025 TYR Wodapalooza Roster (So Far)
The 2025 TYR Wodapalooza leaderboards are still being finalized, and elite athletes are being announced. Part of the roster has already been confirmed, including:
- Arielle Loewen
- James Sprague
- Pat Vellner
- Ricky Garard
- Dani Speegle.
Spectator tickets are on sale now.
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Featured image: @wodapalooza / Instagram
The post A Change of Scenery: Behind TYR Wodapalooza’s Move to Miami Beach for 2025 appeared first on BarBend.