The U23 ranks of elite triathlon offer a degree of protection to its members. Throughout the sport, there is a kind of shared understanding that such athletes need time to further develop and that it would be unwise to expect too much of them at this stage in their career. The age-protected championships of the U23 level further reinforce the concept that the period is a time for development.
Once an athlete ages up from the U23 category, though, they lose some of that developmental cover. Indeed, they enter a new phase in their career which, for many, can be a make-or-break window.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the athletes that will be making the step up into the Senior ranks in 2024. It is already apparent that they will likely thrive at the Senior level and so we will evaluate what would constitute a successful first year for each out of the U23 level.
Men
Simon Henseleit (GER)
Simon Henseleit could not have asked for much more in 2023. Becoming the World U23 champion was an obvious high point in his year while he also added two European Cup wins, a maiden World Cup medal and a first trip inside the top-15 at a WTCS event.
Throughout last year, he showed himself to be a well-rounded athlete with few weaknesses. While he showed a clear knack for winning, perhaps most importantly he was not daunted when he stepped up to the top level. At WTCS Hamburg, where he finished 14th, he showed no signs at all of being out of step. Likewise, at the Rome World Cup, the deepest World Cup of the year, Henseleit barely put a foot wrong.
Significantly, Henseleit has edged ahead of Valentin Wernz in the world rankings (he is ranked 35th while his compatriot stands in 37th). That makes him the fifth ranked German man and should put him in a good position to make WTCS start lists this season.
After such a successful 2023, there is a chance that this season may be more of an adaptive year as Henseleit races more regularly in the Series. At the same time, he can confidently push for a first foray into a top-10 at a WTCS race. Moreover, further European Cup and World Cup success will likely be on his radar.
Miguel Hidalgo (BRA)
Miguel Hidalgo ended 2023 in the form of his life. Wins at the Brasilia World Cup and Pan American Games were obvious high points of a season that also included a silver medal at the Vina del Mar World Cup and taking 11th place overall in the WTCS standings.
His WTCS form was particularly noteworthy and he was by far the most consistent male U23 athlete in the Series. Across the Series, he had a lowest finish of 16th (at the season opener in Abu Dhabi). Plenty of athletes his age would look at that result alone with envy. He continued to improve throughout the year and added a 7th place in Hamburg, 8th place in Paris and 6th place in Pontevedra.
The latter two results were particularly significant as they signified that he had truly cracked the Olympic distance less than a year after identifying it as his weakness.
Hidalgo is therefore already a fully-fledged contender in the WTCS and a first medal will be on his radar. Perhaps more than anyone, then, he could emerge as this season’s Vasco Vilaca or Tim Hellwig as both enjoyed plenty of WTCS success after graduating from the U23 ranks at the end of 2022. Now ranked 10th in the world, Hidalgo will have his sights set on his best season yet.
Ricardo Batista (POR)
The European champion over the Super Sprint distance had a fantastic season in 2023. In addition to his dominant win in Balikesir, Batista won two World Cup medals – claiming bronze in New Plymouth and silver in Tongyeong – and would have had a third but for a penalty in Miyazaki.
He also logged his best ever WTCS finishes. He placed 10th in Sunderland and 14th in Pontevedra. His Sunderland showing especially caught the eye as Batista got involved with a brazen mini-break on the bike.
At the start of 2023, Batista certainly looked in contention for a slot on the Portuguese Olympic team. However, it is seems almost unfathomable that he could be left out. Notwithstanding the experience and speed that some of his compatriots bring to the table, Batista has shown over the previous year that he is a rising star in the sport.
Looking to the season ahead, expectations have grown for Batista. Alongside an Olympic Games slot, he could target a first World Cup win or an improvement on his best WTCS finish (an 8th place from Yokohama in 2022). The margins are so fine at the top level, though, that he could miss such targets and still have a brilliant year.
Women
Bianca Seregni (ITA)
Bianca Seregni is one of the best swimmers in triathlon, if not the leading athlete at this point in time. Her body of work in the water last season was nothing short of sensational and she could have taken up half of the top-10 swims of the year.
As easy as it would be to get caught up in her first discipline speed, of greater note is that she claimed three World Cup wins in 2023. Rather than relying on breakaways or purely her swim, she won each with superb running performances. The indications, then, are that Seregni is rapidly becoming an athlete capable of making moves at the start or end of the race, giving her options when it comes to strategy.
She ended the WTCS season with a best finish of 20th in Pontevedra. That itself was a decent performance albeit a little off her best finish of 10th (from Bermuda in 2022).
Looking ahead to this year, Seregni had clearly proven herself at the World Cup level. Now, greater consistency in the WTCS will be her primary objective. While luck and avoiding injury will come into the equation, it is no reach to say she has the ability to log multiple finishes inside the top-10.
Tanja Neubert (GER)
In Pontevedra, Tanja Neubert made it back to back top-5 finishes at the World U23 Championships (she finished 5th in 2022 and 2023). While a medal at the world level eluded her, she did earn a bronze medal at the European U23 Championships.
In addition, she claimed wins at the European Cup in Kitzbühel and the African Cup in Yasmine Hammamet while she also finished 4th at the European Championships in Madrid.
Last season, she did not match her World Cup best of 5th place (achieved in Miyazaki in 2022). Part of the reason for this, though, was the crazy depth of the German squad which prevented Neubert from taking on lots of races. Indeed, she only actually raced at one World Cup in 2023.
Pushing towards a first World Cup medal – which is a realistic aim for her – and making a WTCS debut will likely be among her targets this year. Unlike most athletes her age, though, Neubert will face pressure to perform from limited opportunities simply due to her nationality. She might only get one or two chances at the world level this year, but she definitely has the ability to make the most of them.
Bailee Brown (HKG)
While Beatrice Mallozzi, the 2019 World Junior and European Junior champion and winner of the 2023 European Cup in Ceuta, will be an athlete to watch, Bailee Brown could become one of Asia’s leading names in triathlon as she leaves the U23 level this season.
In 2023, Brown logged a best ever World Cup finish of 12th in Weihai and added bronze medals at the Asian Championships over the Sprint distance and at the Asia Cup in Hong Kong. After a strong year of racing, Brown now finds herself ranked 69th in the world and on the cusp of being able to make WTCS start lists. Furthermore, she is the closest challenger to Ekaterina Shabalina in the Asian New Flag race. With a big start to the season, she could find herself heading to the Olympic Games this summer.
In many ways, Brown’s goal for 2024 all boil down to the same point. She will hunt a first international win. Should she achieve that, she will boost her world ranking and get closer to the top-60, thereby increasing her likelihood of chasing down Shabalina. It would also aid her ambition of making WTCS starts. In turn, if she can race at the WTCS level and earn further points, her prospects of overhauling Shabalina will only increase.
By the end of this year, then, Brown could be an Olympian, a WTCS starter and a leading light on the Asian triathlon scene. Together, it is a big and rather daunting picture. It all could stem, though, from a first victory.
