Dave Castro tests 2026 CrossFit Games events with Rafael Sancen in Aromas

Dave Castro did not wait for San Jose to reveal the shape of the 2026 CrossFit Games. In a behind-the-scenes video, CrossFit showed the General Manager of Sport and Education testing events with Rafael Sancen at The Ranch in Aromas, California, about eight weeks before the Games are set to begin. That single scene says the quiet part out loud: the workouts are still being pressure-tested, and the final version of the championship is still taking shape.

The setting matters as much as the test itself. CrossFit describes The Ranch as the birthplace of the Games, and the first three editions were held there. Bringing Castro back to Aromas ties the 20th anniversary Games to the sport’s origin story while underscoring how much the programming still depends on live athlete feedback rather than a lock-step script. A workout that looks balanced on paper can expose very different demands once an athlete is moving under fatigue, chasing pace, and dealing with standards in real time.

That is where Sancen becomes more than a model athlete in the frame. CrossFit identifies him as an athlete for Richard Russell CrossFit Monterey Bay, and it previously named him team captain of the 2025 CrossFit Games demo team. He has repeatedly competed in the Open, Quarterfinals and Semifinals, a résumé that makes him the kind of athlete CrossFit trusts to show what a test really asks. His presence suggests the programming is being checked against an athlete who understands how events feel when every rep counts.

The video also fits a broader 2026 storyline that is already taking shape around the championship itself. The CrossFit Games are scheduled for July 24-26, 2026, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, and CrossFit has described the season as the sport’s 20th anniversary edition. The field will include 30 men, 30 women and 20 teams, while the Open continues to funnel the top 25% of individual and age-group athletes into the Quarterfinals. The path to San Jose is already defined, but the tests those athletes will face are still being refined.

For fans, the most revealing detail is not just that Castro is testing workouts. It is where he is doing it, and with whom. Aromas connects the modern Games to their roots, while Sancen’s role shows that athlete input still matters in shaping what the sport rewards. CrossFit has also used The Ranch for other behind-the-scenes testing videos this season, including Open workout previews, pointing to a programming process that is active, iterative and very much still alive before the 20th anniversary Games ever reach San Jose.