One of the biggest stories at WTCS Abu Dhabi was that former world champion Katie Zaferes made her return to racing. Having taken a maternity break after the Tokyo Olympics, Zaferes took the first steps on her road towards the Paris Olympics in 2024.
In Abu Dhabi, she had a solid swim and made the main pack on the bike. Thereafter, she held her own in the group and barely missed a beat.
In T2, Zaferes lost a little bit of time as the effort began to show and her run was not quite at the level of her other two disciplines.
In the end she finished 37th. As first races back go, though, she can be extremely satisfied with her result. There were a lot of encouraging aspects about her race and the run will come back round quickly.
With each race, Zaferes will no doubt build into the season as she looks to recapture her high standards.
Barely a week after her first race of the year, she will be back into the action.
This weekend, Zaferes will be racing in the Americas Cup in Sarasota, USA.
Sarasota used to be a home to a World Cup race and is known for being a fast course. The World Cup race was last hosted there in 2018 and this weekend’s race will over the same Sprint distance.
As a Continental Cup, the field will not be as deep as WTCS Abu Dhabi which should give Zaferes the opportunity to exert herself over the race and dictate proceedings a little more.
At the same time, there will be a number of talented athletes to keep her company.
Noemie Beaulieu and Sarah-Lee Hevey lead the Canadian contingent. Hevey recently showed her swimming form at the Americas Cup in La Paz while Beaulieu is a highly promising youngster coming off a successful Junior career.
Ekaterina Shabalina of Kazakhstan will also be racing and will be a good source of competition. Shabalina will be wearing number 1 on the start line.
Otherwise, Sarasota will play host to a primarily American field.
Madisen Lavin and Liberty Ricca both raced for the US at the World U23 Championships in Abu Dhabi and will be two of the Americans to watch.
Meanwhile, the men’s field is headlined by WTCS gold medallist Casper Stornes. Stornes memorably won WTCS Bermuda in 2018 after launching an inspired attack on the bike. A year later, he was the runner up at the Tokyo Olympic Test Event. While Stornes has not quite enjoyed the same level of success in recent times, he is probably the pick of the men’s field.
The winner of the recent Americas Cup in La Paz will also be starting. Aiden Longcroft-Harris will no doubt be looking to push the swim and bike as he did in La Paz. If he can force a small group to breakaway, he could shift the race in his favour. Whether he will be able to over a fast Sprint course is another question.
On the American front, Ka’eo Kruse will be a name to watch after winning a silver medal at the La Habana Americas Cup recently. Kruse is a relative newcomer to the sport so watch for him to make great strides this season.
He will be joined by Brent Demarest and John Reed as two other American men to watch.
