A SUCCESSFUL SPRING FOR THE SCOTT TRIATHLON TEAM

A Prolonged Race Season Means More Opportunities to Shine
After a very successful 2014 season, topped off with the IM European and World Championship crowns taken by Sebastian Kienle, SCOTT triathletes have started the 2015 season in a similar fashion. With the addition of the Challenge Triple Crown Series with races as late as December and as early as February, the race season has become longer but also offers more opportunities to cross the finish line first.

Jodie Swallow
The Kona fourth place finisher in 2014 proves to be unbreakable. After her strong performance at the IM World Championships she immediately set her focus on Challenge Bahrain in December where she finished third in a stellar field. At the IM 70.3 South Africa, Jodie lined up to defend her 4 titles she won in a row. Not only did she win the race again, she also set a new course record. One month later, Jodie nearly missed the podium at Challenge Dubai, where she fought a hard battle in a world class field to cross the finish line in fourth. Again one month later, the talented Brit won the IM African Continental Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Along with this win, Jodie qualified for the World Championships in Hawaii this year. A journalist asked her whether she was happy that she had already qualified this early in the season for the IM World Championships. Jodie replied, “Qualifying shouldn't ever be a problem for me, winning it - that is the big issue!” A valid statement when looking at the Kona Pro Ranking which determines who can fight for the Kona crown– Jodie leads the women’s ranking far ahead of the rest. 

Maurice Clavel
The young German stepped into the limelight at last year’s IM 70.3 European Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany where he finished third behind the fast Belgian Aernouts and well-known Aussie Peter Robertson. The extroverted German-French double citizen is known to show his positive emotions which earned him the name “Mr. Krawall” or in English Mr. Riot. Motivated to prove to the triathlon community that he’s ready to compete with the world’s best, Clavel meticulously prepared for Challenge Dubai in February. A cold crossed his plans and made it impossible for him to retrieve his full potential on race day. He then worked towards his next big goal, the IM 70.3 Barcelona which had announced a stellar field of professionals including 2008 Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno and 2013 IM World Champion Frederik van Lierde. During the race the latter two might have asked themselves who the young German fellow was that wouldn’t break. Even on the run, Clavel hung tough and crossed the finish line not too far behind Frodeno, beating the Belgian van Lierde. Once more, Clavel proved that he’s a guy to watch in the future. 

Jan van Berkel
The Swiss athlete is preparing for his home races, the IM 70.3 Rapperswil and IM Switzerland later this year. However, he did also start his race season pretty early. In the qualification period for Kona 2015 he has already completed two full distance IM races in Australia to earn some valuable points. He recently completed a three week block of racing, competing at the IM 70.3 races in Aix-en-Provence, Mallorca and St. Pölten. Despite the limited time for recovery he earned podium finishes in France and Austria. 

Luke McKenzie and Beth Gerdes
If there’s one couple out there that proves how you can successfully build your life and profession around a new born child, then it’s probably Luke and Beth. Their baby daughter Wynne just turned 1 and has most likely seen more countries than your average adult. Despite the numerous hurdles of getting organized day in day out, the two have managed to keep up a very solid schedule of races. While Beth has already completed three full distance IM races in the 2015 qualification period for Kona, Luke is fully focused on IM Cairns a few weeks from now, in order to gain more points in the Kona Pro Ranking. The goal is clear, they both want to race Kona and of course share their experience with their little girl. 

Marino Vanhoenacker
The 38-year old Belgian does not show any signs of slowing down. He even seems to become faster every year. After successfully overcoming an injury that hindered him from performing well at last year’s World Championship in Kona, the Belgian made a furious comeback this past weekend at the IM Latin American Championships in Brasil. A gap of 6 minutes after the bike leg was enough for him to keep strong runners Tim O’Donnell from the US and Brent McMahon from Canada at bay. With a sizzling time of 7:53:45h Marino crossed the finish line in first. While this win equals the direct qualification for the IM World Championships, his participation is still open but has become pretty likely we suppose. 

Cyril Viennot
The surprise 5th place finisher of last year’s IM World Championships has already competed in a lot of races in 2015 but has somehow stayed a bit under the radar with solid performances. He finished 4th at the IM 70.3 races in South Africa and Vietnam and 8th at the full distance IM in South Africa. Clearly, he has set his focus on Kona this year and is slowly building towards it over the months. At the same time, he’s able to recover quickly and race a lot which is why he’ll be at the start of a handful of races before fighting for the crown in Kona– this year not as an underdog anymore.

Sebastian Kienle
Last but not least, Sebastian. While the 2014 IM European and World Champion has been on more title pages than at races we all know, he’ll be there when it counts. Despite his big wins he reset his focus once more in 2014 and after some days off following the World Championships in Hawaii he started another block of intense training towards Challenge Bahrain in December. He proved to be fitter than ever, making up the swim deficit to the leaders on a dead flat course in less than 30 kilometers. Only a little later he was forced out of the race with a flat tire and unable to solve the issue with a spare kit. There has been hardly another season that showed how human Sebastian still is even at the peak of success. He struggled with a cold in spring and a mediocre finish at IM 70.3 St. George only to win the IM European Championships in July. He finished far off the favorites at the IM 70.3 World Championships in Mt. Tremblant only to prove that he’s the best in the world a few weeks later at the IM World Championships in Hawaii. This year started in a similar fashion. In April, the German finished a strong third at the Triathlon international in Cannes which comes close to a semi-IM race distance-wise. Travelling to the US for IM 70.3 St. George he got sick and was smart enough not to line up for the race under the circumstances. It’s a thin line our pro athletes are walking on. Currently, Sebastian is preparing to defend his title at the IM European Championships in Frankfurt and as mentioned a few lines above – we all know he’ll be there and ready when it really counts.

There are Multiple Ways to Success
SCOTT’s international triathletes have chosen different paths in order to succeed. At the same time, the great results they’ve compiled over the past few months prove that there’s no right or wrong path to choose. It’s simply about choosing the one that suits you best.