The showdown has arrived.
North versus South.
The best young triathletes North America and South America have to offer will clash at the Americas Junior Qualification Event in Punta Cana in pursuit of slots for the World Junior Championships in Hamburg. With only 14 slots available for athletes from the Americas (per gender), the race to secure places in Hamburg will be incredibly close.
Up to 70 athletes of each gender can start in the Dominican Republic. To start with, all national federations are permitted 2 athletes per gender. In light of results from last year, Canada, Mexico and America are entitled to 4 slots per gender. Brazil, meanwhile, may send 3 men and 4 women. Chile will send 3 men and 2 women.
Once all the federations have received their places in Punta Cana, they may add athletes until the start list is full (or they reach the cap of 8 athletes per gender per country). On the men’s side, Mexico and the USA are the only countries that will be making use of the full quota of 8 athletes. Ecuador is close behind with 7.
Beyond the race for Hamburg slots, the racing in Punta Cana promises to be one of the highlights of the Americas season. For starters, the event will pit the champions of North America and South America against one another.
Luke Anthony won the North American Junior Championships in Sarasota at which his incredible running ability was on full display. A sub-15 minute runner over the 5000m, he has the ability to out-gun virtually any Junior rival in the third discipline.
However, Anthony will be going up against Andree Buc, the winner of the South American Junior Championships in Lima. Buc has a very similar profile to Anthony; while he might not have the raw track times, he has displayed his talents already this season at both Junior and Senior races. His run is his primary strength although both his swim and bike are more than strong enough for him to feature prominently throughout the race.
Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza won the women’s race in Lima. That came after Jacome won a medal at the Senior South American Championships over the Olympic distance in Villarrica earlier in the year. As such she can be expected to swim well and put a lot of pressure on the field across all three disciplines. Realistically no one at the Junior level will be able to “out-tough” her. Moreover she demonstrated her speed with her rapid run in Lima.
On paper, then, Jacome has all the faculties required to win the race in Punta Cana and will arrive as one of the favourites.
At the same time, she will be up against Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott of Mexico. Like Anthony, De La Peña was dominant on the run at the North American Junior Championships. She will have to cope with Jacome’s pressure, but if she can hold on until the run she is one of the best runners on the start lists.
There is plenty of talent beyond the current Junior continental champions.
Foremost among them is Mathis Beaulieu. The young Canadian has already won a Senior race this year as he stunned the field at the Americas Cup in Sarasota. For that result alone, he cannot be discounted. While Anthony won the Junior race in Sarasota, Beaulieu’s win in the Senior race was against a tougher field.
Beaulieu has the run to rival the likes of Anthony and Buc but it is his cycling ability that may prove the point of difference. On the note of cycling strength, Sullivan Middaugh of America will also be an athlete to watch.
Middaugh’s compatriot, Carter Stuhlmacher, is probably the best swimmer in the men’s field. He was dominant in the water at the Junior race in Sarasota and also performed well at the Americas Cup in St. Peters. It might not be in his interest to try to go solo for the whole race; nevertheless he certainly has the ability to gain a 20 to 30 second gap over the field in the first discipline.
Then there are the silver medallists from the Junior races in Sarasota and Lima.
Andre Gras is in a similar boat to his fellow Chilean Buc. Having accrued Senior experience, he has all of the skills required to win the race. Meanwhile, Leandre Binette of Canada is one of the youngest men in the race. Being two years younger than some of his rivals could pose a challenge, as could his inexperience. After all, Sarasota represented the only international start of his young career.
However, Binette was brilliant in Sarasota and, at his age, is liable to have improved already in the time since. It would therefore be no surprise to see him emerge from left-field to take the win.
Thomas Castañeda Maldonado of Argentina and Caua Diaz of Brazil will also play big roles in the race and could challenge for the medals.
There is a similar story of depth in the women’s race.
Julia Munhoz was the 2022 South American Junior champion however she was disqualified this year. The young Brazilian could certainly rival Jacome or De La Peña at every stage of the race. It might benefit her to take the race out more aggressively and pressure the pair before the run, but equally she could rely on her running ability too.
Munhoz’s compatriot Amanda Moro will also be in the mix. Moro raced very well in Lima and earned the silver medal. She is the reigning Brazilian Junior champion and has also raced at the World University Championships. As a result, she has a little more experience than some of her rivals.
Sidney Clement was the runner-up in the women’s race at the North American Junior Championships. Most notably, Clement was the closest woman to De La Peña on the run in Sarasota and if she can nudge her run a little further she will automatically be in the conversation for the win.
She does not have a lot of international races to her name although she did race at the World Junior Championships last year. Now in her penultimate year as a Junior, she will likely have gained a lot from last year’s outings.
Zoe Adam of Puerto Rico has recently suffered some misfortune with DNFs in Lima and at the Americas Cup in Salinas. At both races, though, she showed plenty of promise. Her swim and bike are among the strongest in the field and she should be towards the front of the race. The real question mark is her run. Having demonstrated that her first two disciplines are up to scratch, can she add the all-important third one?
Then there are the Americans.
Among a very strong team, two names stand out. Naomi Ruff won a bronze medal in Sarasota after a classy all-round display. Since then, she has also raced at the Senior level, making an appearance at the Americas Cup in St. Peters. She will therefore arrive in Punta Cana with a couple of races under her belt and ready to make an impact from the off.
In addition Britney Brown will arrive in Punta Cana after her crushing victory at the Nelson Mandela Bay African Junior Cup. Although the field that day was not as strong as that she will face in the Dominican Republic, Brown showed a remarkable ability to lead the entire race by herself.
Last year, Brown finished 4th at the Americas Championships (her team mate Faith Dasso came 2nd and will also be racing in Punta Cana) and was comfortably the fastest swimmer in the field.
In Punta Cana, then, she could be a key figure in forcing a breakaway attempt and making it stick.
