There are only five days to go until the World Junior Championships. With no time left to add any fitness or make any substantial changes before the starting horn sounds, all that is left to do is rest and mentally prepare.
Ahead of the racing (which will take place on Thursday 13th July), we spoke to six athletes as they ready themselves for the challenge ahead. Every athlete in Hamburg will face plenty of pressure. Each of the below, though, have slightly different aspects to navigate, whether expectation built from their own performances, racing in front of a home audience or the knowledge that it is their final chance to make their mark as a Junior.
Take a look at what they had to say in the build-up to the event.
Andree Buc
It has been a hectic year for the South American Junior champion. Right now, Buc is based in Spain on his second altitude training camp of the season.
“First it was Mexico where I stayed a month training and competing,” he explained. “That month taught me a lot because the two races I had didn’t go so well”.
A crash at the Americas Cup in Ixtapa ended that day prematurely. At the second of his two Mexican races, Buc took on the Huatulco World Cup. However, a puncture on the first lap of the bike compromised his result. In between, though, he won a bronze medal at the Americas Cup in Chinchiná.
Racing at the Senior level this year has been instructive on multiple levels and Buc plans to carry the lessons forward to Hamburg.
“Every detail counts (at the Senior level). If you make a mistake you will pay for it without a doubt. Also the pace of the race is a lot harder.”
With his time in Mexico and Spain, he has spent a lot of time away from home in Chile. His mind, though, is fully focused on Hamburg.
“To be honest,” he said, “I am feeling a little nervous and a quite anxious about Hamburg because it is my last World Champs as a Junior.”
At the same time, he noted he is feeling “really confident about the training blocks that I have been doing these last months. The training sessions are going really well and I am feeling strong in the three disciplines.”
With international medals at both the Junior and Senior level this year, Buc will be among the favourites next week. When it comes to Hamburg itself, and drawing on the lessons from his season so far, he noted that he will “have to be very calm about the decisions I make through the race.”
If he gets that right, he is confident of fighting for a high finish. As he put it, he has the training behind him.
“Now its time to reflect it.”
Julia Munhoz
Munhoz was the South American Junior champion in 2021 but this year she was disqualified at the race in Lima, Peru. Nevertheless, the former Brazilian Junior champion is looking to bounce back at the World Junior Championships.
“I’m feeling very confident, especially as this year I’m in great condition and injury-free.”
Lately she has been based in Boulder, USA, where she was positive about the work she had been able to do. One thing that has been a real help for Munhoz has been training with Vittoria Lopes.
“She has helped me a lot. In the development of training, in swimming and running, she was a great partner.”
Lopes has often been at the head of the field in the water in the WTCS, including last time out in Montreal. To have such a training partner to help will hopefully pay off for Munhoz’s swimming.
Looking ahead to Hamburg, Munhoz added that she has changed her training a little “because the course is more technical, so I took the opportunity to work on it specifically”.
In that regard, Lopes also contributed with valuable insights. Soon enough, she will be able to see if her hard work has paid off.
Margareta Vrablova
Vrablova’s excitement for Hamburg resonates through practically every single one of her words.
“I am really looking forward to it!” she said. “My training has gone really well. I am feeling great.”
Having won four European Junior Cups this year, the question of external pressure is almost inevitable. On the one hand, such results can yield extraordinary momentum. On the other, they can bring heightened expectations.
“I have scored some nice results,” admitted Vrablova. “But I always try to focus more on my performance than the result.”
Her sensibility is in part inspired by her experiences at the World Junior Championships, including a DNF last year in Montreal.
“Last year I had a really bad season full of illnesses and misfortunes… And in 2021 I had my debut as a 16-year-old. I think the most important lesson I learned was that it is never over until the very end as I was 10th approximately 800 meters before the finish line and still managed to finish 5th.”
Perhaps a medal this time around would cap the rollercoaster of her past two trips to the World Junior Championships. Being born in 2005, though, Vrablova will get another bite at the cherry next season anyway. For now, she is simply “looking forward to racing with such strong girls”.
Ilona Hadhoum
Much has been made of Hadhoum’s abilities. Earlier in the year, the European Junior silver medallist dropped performances at the French Junior tests that were the best on record in France. With an incredible amount of promise, she recently backed it up with a bronze medal at the French Grand Prix in Bordeaux.
Does her medal in Bordeaux make her think of herself as a favourite for the gold in Hamburg?
“Winning gold would be too soon to tell,” she said, “but fighting for it and being among the favourites I think.”
She’s therefore optimistic, but not over-confident. A lot of that comes from the success of her recent training. She has been on camp with the French team and she “was able to train in full awareness and as I wanted.”
“I feel great and am in good shape,” added Hadhoum.
When asked for where she feels her greatest strength currently lies, Hadhoum pointed to her running. With a sub-17 minute 5000m personal best to her name, that is a fair assessment and she will likely figure at the sharp end of the race in Hamburg. Not to be forgotten, too, is her swimming prowess.
Tempting as it is to assign weight to them, though, raw times will not count for much in the heat of the race. With that mind, Hadhoum was calm.
“The only thing to do is to be as focused as possible and believe in yourself.”
Brad Course
On the racing front, it seems that everything Course has touched in 2023 has turned to gold.
A win at the Oceania Junior Championships preceded a spellbinding victory at the Oceania Championships in Port Douglas (against Senior athletes and over the Olympic distance). A silver medal at the European Cup in Holten came next.
It should therefore come as no real surprise that his training has passed serenely. Prior to Port Douglas, Course took on a nine week training block which he described as “one of the most consistent blocks that I can remember having and was good to see it pay off”.
Since Holten, Course and the Australian Junior team have been on a preparation camp in Osnabrück, Germany. While the primary focus has been on recovering between races, he noted that he “had a few key sharpening sessions which have gone really well”.
Alarmingly for his rivals, he has “managed to put together a few really consistent weeks and am starting to feel quite good”.
However, he is not expecting to have it all his own way in Hamburg.
“Junior racing is one of the most unpredictable races on the planet, he said. “There’s a lot of unknown athletes.”
Over the last two years, he has been able to pick the brains of the likes of Charlotte McShane, Matthew Hauser and Lorcan Redmond, all of whom have had success at the Junior or U23 levels. When it comes to the unpredictability of the race, though, Course does not have to look much further than one of his own teammates.
Jack Crome won the European Junior Cup in Holten after driving a breakaway out of the water. Does the presence of someone like Crome affect Course’s tactical approach?
“I’m actually roommates with Jack whilst we are overseas on tour. Jack and I have been racing each other since we were 12 years old and know each others strengths, weakness and how we race better then anyone so it’ll be great to have him on the start line.”
Notwithstanding that the dynamics of the race itself will be touch and go, he added, “having Jack as well as Tom Feldmann on the start line will definitely help increase the pace in the water and if there’s a chance for us Aussies to work together I’m sure they’d take it”.
Henning Scholl
Scholl punched his ticket to Hamburg quite late in the day when he won the DTU Cup in Jena. Perhaps more than most, his day will be a moment to savour as he steps out to race in front of a German audience.
“It is something special to be allowed to compete in the World Junior Championships and then also in your own country is doubly special,” said Scholl. “Therefore I am very much looking forward to the race.”
When it comes to racing in front of German audience, he does not think there is any additional pressure on his shoulders.
“It was already a success to prevail in the German selection process, so I’m going to the start liberated and happy that my family has the opportunity to support me on the sidelines.”
“Hamburg is a triathlon highlight every year,” added Scholl.
Brad Course echoed his sentiments and also said, “Hamburg is the most iconic race on the circuit and to be able to race a World Junior Championship in Hamburg is pretty special”.
Although Scholl noted that he has been “slowed down from time to time when running due to injuries”, he added that on the whole he feels well-prepared for the challenge to come.
He identified the swim as a key component of the looming race. As the old adage goes, he noted, “you can’t win the race while swimming, but you can lose it.”
With the pressure off, Scholl might unleash something very special indeed.
In the next few days you will be able to see our pre-race previews. With the athletes raring to go, the World Junior Championships could well be one of the highlights of the entire season.
