Making it to the World Junior Championships is a major achievement in any young triathlete’s career.
With some of the best youngsters in the world due to race at this year’s event in Hamburg, we are taking a look at all the athletes racing to provide a who’s who of the names on the start list. In this article, we will kick off the first of the three women’s previews with the athletes from Europe.
You can read part 1 of the Junior men’s breakdown here.
As with the European men, it should be noted that the full thirty-four slots allocated for Europe have not yet been filled on the start list. This could be either because a national federation has declined or spot or were late in submitting their entries. Over the coming weeks, the situation regarding the missing entries should become clearer.
Europe
Austria will have one woman racing in Hamburg: Tabea Huys. Of any woman due to start, Huys has a powerful claim to being the best swimmer.
Earlier this year, at the Luxembourg Euro Meet, Huys dropped personal bests in the 400m, 800m and 1500m (all long course), hitting times of 4:35.04, 9:21.60 and 17:42.38, respectively. Having originally been more of backstroker, she added the 100m and 200m backstroke whilst also narrowly missing a best time in the 200m free. With her times, she would already be among the best swimmers in the women’s WTCS.
On the triathlon front, Huys finished 7th at the European Junior Cup in Quarteira in March and then placed 17th at the European Junior Cup in Caorle. Shortly after, she snuck into the top-15 legs at Bundesliga Kraichgau.
At this stage her running is not yet at the level of her swimming, although it is pretty good. Being born in 2005, she will have another year to sharpen that before returning for next year’s World Junior Championships To make it onto the podium this year, or even win, Huys will likely need to push the swim and try to construct a small breakaway.
Belgium will be sending three women to Hamburg.
Leading the way will be Hasse Fleerackers who has already logged finishes of 9th in Quarteira and 8th in Caorle. As the eldest of the Belgian trio, Fleerackers will shoulder the greatest level of expectation yet, based on her career so far, she is more than capable of delivering.
Last year she finished 14th at the European Junior Championships and 34th at the World Junior Championships in Montreal. She also added top-6 finishes in the 2022 European Junior Cups in Tabor and Caorle. However, Fleerackers has not yet won an international medal. While that is a harsh point to raise, it is a step she will need to take soon if she is to prove herself as a regular contender for high honours.
Joining Fleerackers will be Lotte Minnebo and Eline Debecker. Both athletes were born in 2006 and so will be among the younger starters.
Minnebo has already finished 10th in Quarteira and 21st in Caorle this year, while Debecker finished 14th in Quarteria and 11th in Caorle. Neither, then, should be over-awed by the situation. Indeed, if the pieces fall into place, Belgium could push for three athletes in the top-15 or even the top-10.
Emma Ryšávková of the Czech Republic did not have the best race in Caorle, however she followed it up with an 8th place at the European Cup in Olsztyn. Having also finished 21st in Quarteira in March, she will look to continue her progression through the summer.
She will be joined by Kateřina Hadravova. Hadravova has only raced once internationally in 2023; she placed 28th in Caorle. Her race in the final, however, was compromised by issues on the bike so it would be unwise to read too much into that result. Last year she won a bronze medal at the European Junior Cup in Tabor which better showcased her abilities.
Spain will only have one woman racing in Hamburg. Luckily for them, they have a budding star coming through.
Alejandra Seguí Soria started her season with a bronze medal at the European Junior Cup in Melilla. In subsequent races, she finished 6th in Quarteira and then 9th in Caorle. Seguí maybe lacks the top-end running speed to truly compete for the win, however she has no major weaknesses in any of her disciplines.
She will be solid in the swim and she can pull big turns on the bike. Of the Junior athletes to have raced internationally this year, she also has some of the best skills in transition. All told, it would a surprise to see how outside the top-10 and she will look to fight for a medal.
Standing in Seguí’s way, however, will be a heavyweight French team.
France possibly have the strongest trio of any country and have the best chance of completing a clean sweep of the podium. If that sounds a little ambitious, consider that their trio of Manon Laporte, Ilona Hadhoum and Léonie Douche finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th in Caorle. The woman that beat them that day, Fanni Szalai, will not be racing (there is also an argument to be made that the French athletes underestimated the precocious youngster; after all, Szalai is considerably younger).
Laporte has been on an upward curve this year which is a slightly ridiculous thing to say when she started her season with a bronze medal in Quarteira. A silver followed in Caorle and then she won the French Junior Championships in Gravelines.
She is a very impressive young athlete and will be tough to beat.
On the other hand, we cannot forget the fact that Ilona Hadhoum is literally the fastest French Junior woman on record at the national tests. In terms of raw times in the pool and on the track, she is probably the most talented athlete on the start list. Of course, triathlons are not won with single discipline personal bests, but they help.
Hadhoum finished behind Laporte in Caorle and Gravelines, taking bronze and silver at each. Last year, however, she finished 7th at the World Junior Championships in Montreal (and was the best French finisher) and won silver at the European Junior Championships. She therefore has a track record of performing at major races.
Completing the French team is Léonie Douche. After a low-key start to the year (she finished 16th in Quarteira), she took things up a notch by finishing 4th in Caorle. She then added a bronze medal in Gravelines. While she might not be able to out-gun her team mates, she is a splendid runner and could conceivably land on the podium in Hamburg.
One team that will look to stop the French juggernaut will be Britain.
Bethany Cook is perhaps their best bet to do so. Alongside finishing 9th in Montreal, she claimed the British Junior title in 2022. So far in 2023, she has not raced internationally in the Junior category. She also skipped the British Junior performance assessments. In lieu of that, she finished 8th at the Americas Cup in St. Peters.
Whereas her contemporaries have raced at the Junior level this year, Cook got a taste for chasing the likes of Katie Zaferes and running against Gwen Jorgensen.
She then sealed her place on the team for Hamburg with a silver medal at the British selection race in Mallory Park.
The woman that beat her that day, Isla Hedley, will also look to stake her claim in Hamburg. Indeed, Hedley is enjoying a great season and could well be the first Brit across the line.
Alongside her win in Mallory Park (in which she was brilliant in all three disciplines), she finished 4th in Quarteira and won the World Junior Cross Triathlon title. Hedley is definitely one of the best cyclists in the field but it does not come at the expense of her other two disciplines. More than most, she is also able to construct a very quick 5km off the bike.
The third member of the British team will be Olivia Logan. Logan is the only athlete of the trio to have earned a slot for Britain at the European Junior Cup in Caorle (where she finished 29th). To seal her spot on the team, she then placed 3rd in Mallory Park.
At the start of the year, she had a solid showing at the British performance assessments and in 2022 finished 5th at the European Junior Cup in Bled. Logan might need to find another gear on the run to compete for a medal but she should be an influential part of the race.
We then come to the hosts.
Primacy among the German Junior ranks has been hard to pin down this year. Mirjam Huber was the best of the women at the domestic tests in Kienbaum but did not make the team. Meanwhile, Marielle Bouchti finished 3rd in Kienbaum but then went on to claim 12th place in Caorle to stand as the leading German woman.
More recently, Bouchti won DTU Youth Cup in Jena with a wonderful performance. She seems to be growing in confidence with each race and, armed with a speedy run, should be able to knock a few favourites down in Hamburg.
Kjara Reckmann will be the youngest woman on the team. She finished 2nd at the Kienbaum test and then ended up in 26th place in Caorle on her international debut. Whereas Bouchti seems to have pushed on a little more this year, Reckmann is understandably still finding her feet.
She is a classy swim-biker and her run is coming along nicely. Given her age, Hamburg might be a little too early in her career. A big performance, though, could be a major confidence boost to help her step up to the next level.
Felipa Herrmann is the best returning German finisher from last year’s championships in Montreal where she finished 10th. She also won the German Junior title and added a 4th place in Bled later in in 2022. This year she finished 16th in Caorle after uncharacteristically losing time in the swim.
Based on 2022 results, it would be fair to expect Herrmann to improve as the season goes on. If she does so, she could have a big performance in store.
As previously mentioned, Fanni Szalai will not be racing for Hunagry. In her place, the team will be led by Lili Dobi.
Dobi won the European Junior Cup in Tiszaujvaros in 2022 and then added a silver medal at the European Junior Cup in Izvorani. This year her results have not quite hit the same highs however she clearly has the ability to produce similar performances. As was the case with her male counterparts on the Hungarian team, she is a well-rounded athlete with plenty of ability in the first two disciplines.
It is a similar story for Nora Romina Nádas. Last year, she took silver behind Dobi in Tiszaujvaros and added a silver medal at the European Junior Cup in Tabor. So far this year Nádas has a finish of 18th in Caorle to her name.
Laura Inez Papp was close behind Nádas in Caorle as she finished 20th. Last year she finished 5th in Tiszaujvaros. Both Nádas and Papp have shown big improvements of the last couple of years.
Italy will be sending two women to Hamburg. Both Alice Alessandri and Eleonora Demarchi performed well in Caorle, finishing 7th and 14th, respectively. Both also logged impressive results in duathlons this year. As such, their bike and run segments should be ready to fire in Hamburg.
Furthermore Demarchi finished 11th at the Senior Italian Championships in 2022.
The Italian pair can evidently run fast off the bike so the second half of their race will not be a concern. Neither tend to have problems in the swim but if there is a point they will need to focus upon it is in the water. Alessandri might be the slightly better swimmer of the two right now, although it is a close call.
If they can get the first discipline right in Hamburg, the whole race could open up for them.
Ugne Pauryte of Lithuania recently finished 5th at the Baltic Championships. The reigning Lithuanian Junior champion, Pauryte has logged a lot of racing over the last two years which should provide a solid foundation of experience. Given that plenty of athletes in the field have only raced once or twice internationally, she could have an advantage when it comes to the mental battle in Hamburg.
In Caorle, she finished 40th overall after missing out on a place in the final. With a different format on the cards at the World Junior Championships, she will look for a different outcome.
Luxembourg qualified two slots at the European Junior Cup in Caorle and they have been assigned to two youngsters. Gwen Nothum and Linda Krombach were born in 2006 and 2007, respectively, making them two of the youngest athletes in the field.
Nothum finished 24th in Quarteira and 27th in Caorle. Krombach, meanwhile, finished 35th in Caorle. Both are good across the board, although Krombach trends a little more as a runner, and will have plenty of time left in the Junior ranks. As much as they will be ones for future, they could certainly make an impact in Hamburg. Nothum, in particular, could target a top-20 finish or better.
The Netherlands have only one woman racing. Fortunately for them, Aniek Mars will arrive in Hamburg on form. Earlier in June, she won a silver medal at the European Junior Cup in Olsztyn. That came after finishes of 35th in Caorle and 23rd in Quarteira.
In Poland, Mars was fantastic on the bike and managed to hold her run together after a massive effort. That offers a good sign for Hamburg where the pace can be expected to be high throughout. Her swim is improving, too, and she could sneak her way through the field.
Maria Gonçalves will be Portugal’s representative. So far in 2023, she has finished 18th in Quarteira and 7th at the Portuguese Sprint Championships.
Gonçalves’ running is definitely her strong suit and she will look to use that to full effect. Her swim is pretty good and she should comfortably make the main group on the bike. However, that leaves her at the mercy of those in the front group and how hard they race. In Quarteira, despite logging one of the better runs in the field, Gonçalves had too much time to make up after the bike.
In Hamburg, she will need to be careful not to lose too much ground before T2. If she can keep any gap down, though, she could pop off on the run.
Noémi Van Der Kaaij will arrive in Hamburg after winning a bronze medal in Olsztyn. In 2022, she also won bronze medals at the European Junior Cup in Yenişehir. While her run is not yet a weapon in her arsenal, she is a superb cyclist. When she gets onto the front a group, she has the ability to make life very difficult for those behind.
In Caorle, Van Der Kaaij finished 23rd Caorle although the shortened format did not really give her a chance to fully utilise her bike strength.
She is on balance one of the few athletes able to bridge between packs on the bike without help from others. She could be tempted into trying to hold something back for the run. Given her cycling ability, though, it would be great to see her let rip and really pressure the field.
Finally we come to the winning machine that is Margareta Vrablova.
Vrablova has been like a hurricane this season as she tore through fields on her way to wins in Melilla, Quarteira and Olsztyn. To go with that hat-trick, she won the World Junior Aquathlon title (taking silver in the Senior classification). Furthermore she has seven European Junior Cup wins to her name in total, essentially making her the most successful European Junior on record.
As she was born in 2005, she can accrue more wins over the course of this year and next year. However, a championship gold will now be her target.
In 2022, she did not finish at the World Junior Championships in Montreal. At the European Junior Cup in Caorle, she also took a slightly surprising 6th place. It says a lot about her level that 6th was a drop from her high standards when it would be a cause for celebration for most athletes.
Vrabvlova’s run is definitely the best part of her race, although her swim is deceptively quick. At every stage in Hamburg, she should be towards the front of the field. The question is whether she will be able to deliver on her enormous promise and claim the title. There are a lot of talented women going up against her yet none have won as often as Vrablova. As things stand, she is the favourite.
