The New Plymouth World Cup is scheduled for 26th March, with the athletes returning to New Zealand for the first time since 2019. Taking place over the Sprint distance, New Plymouth will welcome home favourites and WTCS medallists alike.
Who’s there?
A full strength Oceania contingent will be present. Hayden Wilde and Tayler Reid lead a group of seven New Zealand men, while seven of their female compatriots will also be starting. Heading up the New Zealand women will be the winner of the Wanaka Oceania Cup, Nicole Van Der Kaay.
Meanwhile, ten Australians will be starting. Matthew Hauser and Jacob Birtwhistle will be at the vanguard of the five Australian men. The Australian women will be led by the Hedgeland sisters, Jaz and Kira.
One other Australian to note is Callum Mcclusky. The recent winner of the Wanaka Oceania Cup has demonstrated immense running speed and it will be interesting to see how he goes at the World Cup level.
Mcclusky’s speed will have to be on form if he is to compete against the likes of WTCS medallists Manoel Messias and Tyler Mislawchuk. Both Messias and Mislawchuk will be starting in New Plymouth and will look to lay down an early marker for the year.
Among a talented Spanish contingent, Miriam Casillas Garcia is the stand out athlete and might be the early favourite in the women’s race.
Casillas’ team mate, David Castro Fajardo will also be starting in the men’s race. That will give him the opportunity to enjoy a rematch with Diego Moya after they battled at the last World Cup of 2022. Castro out-gunned Moya that day in Chile, although it remains to be seen which athlete is in the better form in 2023.
Similarly, the women’s gold and silver medallists from the last World Cup of 2022 are present. Sandra Dodet won that race with a classy showing however Gina Sereno nearly snatched the win after producing a fabulous run.
On the note of Sereno, one American name is conspicuously absent.
Gwen Jorgensen publicly stated that she would be racing in New Plymouth but she is not on the start list. Instead Taylor Knibb and Erika Ackerlund join Sereno for the Americans.
This points to a likely switch between Knibb and Jorgensen, in the same manner that Knibb switched out for Katie Zaferes ahead of WTCS Abu Dhabi.
Main talking points
Step two on Jorgensen’s return?
Jorgensen’s first race on her comeback is this weekend in Taupo. She will be racing over the Sprint distance at an Oceania Cup. As such, she is in New Zealand already and has said she will follow up in New Plymouth. It would therefore be strange if she now did not race the World Cup.
As mentioned above, the likeliest outcome is that Knibb will switch out. Otherwise, Jorgensen would not have the requisite World Triathlon ranking to make the start list.
The intrigue over Jorgensen’s appearance will be over how she fares in a deeper field. The big question mark at this point will be over her swim. Having competed in athletics and the marathon following her retirement from triathlon, her running will likely be in good nick. Her swim, though, may be another matter.
And what of Knibb? It remains to be seen when she will start her season. As one of the favourites for the women’s WTCS, she may be biding her time until the summer gets fully underway in order to peak for the WTCS Final in Pontevdra.
A chance for youngsters
A number of talented young men will be racing in New Plymouth. Ricardo Batista leads the way. Having achieved a first WTCS top-10 in Yokohama and won a first World Cup medal in Miyazaki last year, he will be hoping to build into an even more successful 2023.
Other stand out youngsters include Dylan McCullough, Alessio Crociani and Nicolo Strada. Each of those three are strong swimmers so look for them to try to force the pace in the water.
On the women’s side, Noemie Beaulieu and Márta Kropkó will be starting. Both Beaulieu and Kropkó have aged up from the Junior ranks after successful starts to their career and will be ones to watch. Meanwhile, the 2019 World Junior silver medallist Constanza Arpinelli will also be racing.
Alongside these names, there is one other young athlete worth paying attention to.
Anahi Alvarez Corral
Alvarez needs to be noted separately after her frankly ridiculous running performances in 2022. At the World U23 Championships, Alvarez outran everyone in the U23 race and the WTCS Final except Flora Duffy on her way to a 32:39 split. For reference, only three women ran under 34 minutes in Abu Dhabi: Duffy, Leonie Periault and Georgia Taylor-Brown.
Alvarez is therefore in elite company when it comes to her run.
Moreover, she won a silver medal at a World Cup last September. Racing over the Sprint distance in Valencia, she used her running speed to full effect to take her first World Cup medal.
With her talent, if she is anywhere near the main pack out out of T2, she will threaten the podium.
Schoeman versus Dévay in the swim
One of the best sub-plots in New Plymouth will be the race to be first out of the water.
Henri Schoeman will be making his World Cup return after an injury-riddled 2022. For years, he was one of the best swimmers in the world of triathlon.
However, a new face has emerged in the past two years. Márk Dévay of Hungary has a real claim to being the best swimmer in the WTCS. It will be fascinating to see which of the two can take control of the swim in New Plymouth.
If Schoeman and Dévay decide to really drop the hammer, a number of men further down in the field could be in for an uncomfortable day.
View the men’s start list here.
View the women’s start list here.
