The DTU Youth Cup marked the last chance for German Junior triathletes to earn their places on the team for the World and European Junior Championships later this summer.
On the women’s side, Marielle Bouchti, Kjara Reckmann and Felipa Herrmann had booked their places for the World Junior Championships in Hamburg based on their performances at the European Junior Cup in Caorle. No men, however, had earned their place. More pertinently, no German men had actually qualified a slot for Hamburg in Caorle. Instead, the only slot came from Germany’s status as hosts.
With only one spot on the line, it all came down to Jena.
Moreover, Bouchti and Herrmann had also punched their tickets to the European Junior Championships in Balikesir, leaving one spot to be taken in Jena. On the men’s side, all three of the places were still on the table.
After a tight finish, Henning Scholl took the win in the men’s race to put himself on the Hamburg start line.
Across the double Super Sprint, in which athletes took on a 300m swim, 6km bike and 1.5km run and then did it all again, a large pack of men were in contention on the final run.
Also in striking distance of the win were Jan Pluta, the winner of the German Junior test in Kienbaum, Tim Semmler and Ben Kaufman.
Scholl, however, managed to cross the line in 1st place in a time of 39:48, only 4 seconds ahead of Pluta. Semmler took 3rd, another 4 seconds behind, and pipped Kaufman by only 1 second.
That 1 second between Semmler and Kaufman will likely prove hugely influential as it will be the difference between Semmler making the team in Balikesir in August and Kaufman staying at home. In the first half of the race, Semmler out-split Kaufman by 14 seconds in the swim and 15 seconds in the run. While Kaufman had the better first bike split, he was left playing catch-up in the second half.
Several other men also came exceptionally close to making the European team.
Jan Scheffold finished 5th, only 2 seconds down on Kaufman (and 3 seconds back of Semmler) while Tom Borst was a further second behind in 6th. Indeed, Hannes Venter, Justus Oeckl and Chris-Marvin Scheffler (who finished 7th, 8th and 9th, respectively) were all within 10 seconds of taking 3rd place.
With such depth, the rest of the racing in the German domestic season should be incredibly close.
As for Scholl, his win and subsequent qualification will now see him make only his second international start. His sole appearance to date came in a 2021 European Junior Cup in Wels, Austria. Now with World and European Championships to prepare for, he can expect a busy summer ahead.
Bavaria will also be able to celebrate putting both Pluta and Semmler on the team for Europeans. Semmler’s brother Jan, however, finished down the field in 13th.
On the women’s side, Marielle Bouchti won handily. She clocked a total time of 43:26 to bear Johanna Uherek by 43 seconds. With Bouchti already on the Hamburg and Balikesir teams, that means Uherek should be the one to add herself to the start list at the European Junior Championships.
The run proved the major point of separation for Bouchti as few of her rivals could handle her speed on either run. In addition her strength shone through with a brilliant second bike split in which she carved out a healthy lead.
For Uherek, there was a sense of redemption with her performance. She raced at the European Junior Cup at Caorle and narrowly missed making the championship team there. In the heats, she finished 33rd when a top-30 finish was required to make the final. With three of her compatriots making the final ahead of her (including Bouchti), her chance almost slipped through her fingers.
In Jena, though, she made up for that with a sterling all-round display. In total, she finished 16 seconds ahead of the bronze medallist, Juliane Möllers.
With selection now wrapped up (although the DTU will still need to formally confirm the teams), attention can now turn to the first of the championships. Hamburg will take place next month and with the global Junior field looking frankly astonishing, the German team will need to be at their best.
After their showings today, they can be confident that they are heading in the right direction.
