Category: Athletes

Selina Klamt On Her World U23 Title and Breakthrough Year

Benjamin Eastman

It started with a win and it ended with a win. Selina Klamt opened her account for the year by taking the gold medal at the European Cup in Caorle. A little over four months later, she signed off with another victory, this time at the World U23 Championships in Pontevedra. In between, she added another European Cup win, the European U23 title, a silver medal at the German Championships and made her WTCS debut. On virtually every level, then, Klamt’s season can only be described as a resounding success.…

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Which Athletes Have Won World Junior, U23 and WTCS Titles?

Benjamin Eastman

Some athletes enjoy tremendous success at a young age, hitting highs like winning the World Junior Championships. Other athletes peak later in their careers. While they do not necessarily have the greatest success as Juniors, they come through to win the WTCS later in their careers. Stepping onto the top of a World Championship podium, whether at the Junior, U23 or Senior level is a major achievement. The question is, which athletes have achieved all three milestones in their careers? As it happens, the current men’s WTCS champion, Dorian Coninx,…

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Beth Potter On Winning Her First World Title

Benjamin Eastman

It has been a year of firsts for Beth Potter yet the athlete that speaks now is as similar as they are different to the one that started the season. Potter opened her account for the year with a first WTCS win in March. A commanding performance at WTCS Abu Dhabi marked her out as one to watch and further firsts followed. In August she made her first Olympic Test Event appearance; in 2019 she was not ranked highly enough to get onto the Tokyo Test Event start list. Most…

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Evaluating Jason West’s 2024 Olympic Games Hopes

Benjamin Eastman

One of the main talking points ahead of the World Cup races in Rome and Brasilia was the presence of Jason West. The American athlete previously raced in short course triathlon however he traded it in for the longer distances a couple of years ago. Earlier this season, he won medals at the PTO Asian Open and PTO US Open and has made a name for himself as one of the fastest runners in the middle distance realm. In light of his PTO success, the question was open to be asked…

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The Takeaways From The Racing In Pontevedra 2023

Benjamin Eastman

After a blockbuster weekend of racing in Pontevedra, there were a number of stories to track across the WTCS Final and World U23 Championships. Kate Waugh’s breakthrough medal captured plenty of attention. Hayden Wilde’s unlucky penalty also caught the eye. When it came to the racing itself, the spectacular finish to the men’s race was something to behold. Meanwhile, Beth Potter’s victory in the women’s race was an exercise of total control. With so much going on, it would be easy for some of the narratives to slip between the…

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Hayden Wilde Receives His Unluckiest Penalty Yet

Benjamin Eastman

Is there a more unhappy marriage than Hayden Wilde and penalties? Coming out of the swim at the WTCS Final, Wilde’s cap slipped from his fingers as he shifted it from his right hand to his left. He could only look on as he continued running and the hat fell onto the pontoon. Rather than stop, Wilde made his way to T1 where he thereupon received a 15 second penalty for having his equipment outside of his box. He subsequently missed the front pack and made it onto the run…

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Huys Comes Close To Time Trial Medal At European Champs

Benjamin Eastman

Austrian Junior triathlete Tabea Huys narrowly missed out on a medal in the time trial at the European Cycling Championships. Racing in the Junior women’s event in Drenthe, Huys completed the 19.8km course in 27:04.14, earning 4th place. She finished less than 8 seconds away from the bronze medal. Meanwhile, the race was won by Federica Venturello of Italy in a time of 26:23.87. As a cyclist, Huys has shown plenty of promise. In August she raced at the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow and finished 20th in the Junior…

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Recruiting Kicks Off Ahead Of The 2024 Bundesliga

Benjamin Eastman

Even though the Bundesliga came to its conclusion less than a fortnight ago, attention has already turn to the 2024 season. More specifically, the vital aspect of recruitment is about to take its place on centre stage. The unexpected news that Buschhütten have disbanded has also added a new dimension to the recruitment window. Several WTCS athletes, both German and international, will now be hunting for a new team. Any teams looking to add international athletes to their rosters will have to do so before the end of the year. The…

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A Look Back At The Short Course Career Of Jan Frodeno

Benjamin Eastman

The career of Jan Frodeno has officially come to an end. The German athlete has become arguably one of the most recognisable faces of triathlon over the past decade as he has led the long distance side of the sport into new waters. Before he became focal point of a generation of long distance triathlon, though, he was an exceptional short distance triathlon. The peak of his career came in 2008 when he won Olympic gold. With his win in Beijing, he catapulted himself to the pinnacle of the sport…

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Is It Time To Board The Gwen Jorgensen Hype Train?

Benjamin Eastman

Gwen Jorgensen has been added to the women’s start list for the WTCS Final in Pontevedra. With her inclusion, she now has the perfect opportunity to cap what has already been a sensational month. Her recent form has left some observers scratching their heads. Where did she come from? And more importantly, where is she going? Not since Cotton Eyed Joe was on the scene have those two question preoccupied minds like this. Before September, Jorgensen had enjoyed a very good comeback to the sport. She nabbed a silver medal…

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Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott Switching To America

Benjamin Eastman

The World Junior Championships silver medallist, Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott, is switching her sporting nationality from Mexico to the United States of America. De La Peña has had a sensational season as a Junior. In addition to her silver in Hamburg, she won the North American Junior Championships in Sarasota and the Americas Junior Qualification Event in Punta Cana. To go with that, she has already enjoyed success at the Senior level having finished 12th at the Viña del Mar World Cup at the end of 2022. A rounded…

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Annika Koch On Her Breakthrough Summer Of Racing

Benjamin Eastman

Annika Koch has been a name to watch for some time. Last year, she won a silver medal at the World U23 Championships in Abu Dhabi, improving on the bronze medal she earned in 2021. To go with that, she enjoyed World Cup success in 2022, taking gold in Huatulco and claiming silver in Tongyeong. By most metrics, then, she entered 2023 as an athlete with plenty of promise and a growing pile of medals. This summer, however, she has exploded to a new level. At WTCS Hamburg, she claimed…

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Vicky Holland To Make Return To Racing At Tangier World Cup

Benjamin Eastman

The 2018 world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, Vicky Holland, will be making her return to elite triathlon racing at the Tangier World Cup next month. Holland last raced at WTCS Abu Dhabi in November 2021. She then took a maternity break from the sport and earlier this year gave birth to her first child. After an absence of two years from the international scene, Holland will now be making her return. The examples of Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen this year have shown how successful post-partum returns to…

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Laura Lindemann On Paris, Hamburg and Rapid Relays

Benjamin Eastman

Amid the recent rise of German triathlon, there has been one constant throughout. Laura Lindemann has been at the heart of the team for over seven years. It therefore seemed fitting that she was the first triathlete to book their spot on the German Olympic team by claiming the bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Test Event. However, her race was very nearly over for her, and half the field, in the first discipline. “We swam a bit strangely on the way back because we took the wrong tunnel,” said…

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Jolien Vermeylen On Winning Medals and Being Chaotic

Benjamin Eastman

“I’m fairly chaotic,” says Jolien Vermeylen, laughing as she does. It’s a word that comes up often in conversation with her and, in fairness, she makes a compelling case. Yet it also seems to be only one side of the coin. From the first steps of Vermeylen’s career to the elite level at which she now finds herself, the chaos has been seemingly ever-present. Lying beneath it, though, is a quiet determination. At the end of 2022, she tackled the autumn swing of WTCS races in Cagliari, Bermuda and Abu…

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