SWAMPSCOTT –– From 28,000 men worldwide to 10, Swampscott’s Mike Dudevoir will be among the 10 athletes in the men’s 45-49-year-old age group competing at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games in Madison, Wis. on Thursday.
Dudevoir, a 1994 Swampscott High graduate and a 1993 Baseball State Championship team member, endured a long and demanding physical journey to get to this event at age 45.
He went through three stages of events that involved, and even combined, weight lifting, cardio, endurance, and gymnastics, competing against other athletes from around the world.
The first stage began in February with a remote competition. In the open stage, Dudevoir finished in the top 10 percent of around 28,000 competitors in his division to move on to the quarterfinals.
In April’s quarterfinals, he found similar success, finishing 18th against over 800 athletes, where only the top 30 qualified for the semi-finals. Finally, over Memorial Day weekend Dudevoir finished 10th out of 30 to punch his ticket to the CrossFit Games.
For Dudevoir, CrossFit is something he has fallen in love with since he started in January of 2012. He loved it so much that he opened a gym in Swampscott, CrossFit The Swamp, in November of 2013.
Dudevoir says he got into the competitive side of CrossFit when the games introduced a master’s division where he could compete globally in the 40-44-year-old division.
“Throughout those five years, I consistently ranked in the top 200 worldwide in those divisions but never qualified for the games. I was never at that level yet. I was good, I was a very good crossfitter, but I was not elite,” said Dudevoir.
In his final time competing in the 40-44-year-old group last year, Dudevoir attempted to make the games again, coming off an injury. Although he did not qualify, his results last year started the fire that would propel Dudevoir to the games.
“My last year in the 44 group, I finished right around 100. I looked at all the numbers that I had in that competition in the quarterfinals and stacked them up against the 45-49-year-old numbers — I missed the cut-off by 42 days,” said Dudevoir.
“I looked at all the numbers and all my numbers compared to the 45-49 group, the guys 42 days older than me — I would have qualified for the games last year, and I was not even really training; I was coming off a major spinal injury — I had a pinched nerve in my cervical spine,” he said.
Realizing that even at under 100 percent, he was essentially only 42 days away from qualifying served as a flashpoint to commit fully to competitive CrossFit.
“Up until August of last year, I was probably 80 percent committed. I think that flashpoint of saying wow, this is a lot closer than maybe I realized, that was the motivation I needed to kick in that final 20 percent,” said Dudevoir.
Dudevoir says he ate completely clean and committed to a strict training program created by Mat Fraser, a five-time CrossFit Games champion, called HWPO (Hard Work Pays Off).
“That final 20 percent, that commitment, and that focus was what propelled me to this point. That is the difference between hovering around 100th or 200th in the world to putting myself in a position where I had an opportunity to compete for one of the 10 spots here in Madison,” said Dudevoir.
Even now, in the moment, Dudevoir appreciates and looks back on the journey to get to compete at such a high level.
“The hardest part is getting here, so to me — I am going to compete my butt off out here, and I am going to lay everything I have on the line to win this thing, but I understand that anything can happen this week and whether I win or not, or whether I finish in the top three or wherever I finish, I am extremely proud of just getting here,” said Dudevoir.
Heading into Thursday, Dudevoir is filled with confidence.
“I feel great. I am extremely confident,” said Dudevoir. “I am confident I have put in all the work. I have not cut any corners this year. I have given everything I have. There is nothing that I would have done differently,” he said.
To follow along with Dudevoir’s run in Madison, check out the following link with ways to watch https://games.crossfit.com/article/how-watch-2022-nobull-crossfit-games/games.
