While other teams have focused on bolstering their ranks through recruitment drives, two Bundesliga teams will be merging ahead of the upcoming season.
Karlsruhe Lemminge finished 12th overall in the women’s series. The team were promoted after the 2022 season and had a successful first year in the top division. In the men’s competition, Sportunion Neckarsulm took 6th place. Heading into the final round, Neckarsulm sat in 4th place. However, a sub-optimal day at the last round in Hannover saw them drop two places.
While Karlsruhe did not have a men’s team and Neckarsulm did not possess a women’s team in the top division, both had such teams in lower leagues.
Neckarsulm’s women’s team placed 11th in Bundesliga Süd (the lower division for the southern teams). The high point of their year came with their 3rd place in the 2023 season opener. Meanwhile, Karlsruhe’s men’s team ended 2022 ranked 10th in Bundesliga Süd.
The two teams will be merging in 2024, giving them a combined presence in both the men’s and women’s top division. The new outfit will race under the name SG Karlsruher Lemminge/Sport-Union Neckarsulm.
Neckarsulm were the ones to broach a potential merging of teams and Karlsruhe were receptive to the idea. One of the guiding philosophies behind the move was to enable the combined team to compete with athletes from the region without relying on international reinforcements.
Elsewhere, other teams have taken the chance in the off-season to strengthen their teams.
One noteworthy move is that Aufsteiger Tri-Team Freiburg have signed Pia Wolf. Wolf is a major pick-up for the team. In 2023, she was the star performer of Mey Post-SV Tübingen, as she finished 18th in Düsseldorf , 11th in Tübingen and 23rd in Hannover. The folding of Tübingen, however, left her without a team for 2024.
Based on her form last year, Wolf will likely be a key part of Freiburg’s hopes this year.
In addition, Absolute Teamsport KTT 01 have announced further signings for 2024. Towards the end of 2023, they added David Castro Fajardo, the reigning European champion, and Fanni Szalai, the current European Youth champion, to their squad.
On the women’s side, a trio of youngsters have been recruited. Alejandra Seguí Soria, the bronze medallist and the 2023 European Junior Championships, leads the new faces. In addition, the Belgian Junior champion, Hasse Fleerackers has joined the team. Fleerackers placed 10th at the World Junior Championships last year. Both Seguí and Fleerackers have now moved up into the U23 ranks.
On the domestic front, KTT 01 have added Kjara Reckmann. Reckmann was Germany’s youngest competitor at last year’s World Junior Championships and will still be a Junior athlete in 2024 and 2025. Over the coming years, she could become a prominent face in the German set-up.
KTT 01 have also added a trio of men to its team. Hector Tolsa Garcia joins his Spanish compatriot Seguí. Tolsa narrowly missed out on a medal at the European Youth Championships last year after winning silver medals at the European Junior Cups in Melilla and Izvorani.
Australian athlete Thomas Feldman and German athlete Mika Adam have also joined the team. Feldmann was the silver medallist at the Oceania Junior Championships in 2023 and this year graduates into the U23 ranks.
With plenty of firepower added to the team, KTT 01 will hope to push towards a place on the overall podium in both the men’s and women’s competitions this year.
