Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist Henri Schoeman will continue his emotional comeback at Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift Switzerland this Sunday, only a few days after returning also to the blue carpet in World Triathlon Championship Series Abu Dhabi last weekend.
The South African star, who won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2016 Olympics, contemplated quitting as a string of serious illnesses and injuries forced him out of the sport for much of the last four years. But the 31-year-old decided to fight on and made his return to the big time with second place at Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift Montreal. One week later he crossed the finish line in 36th place in Abu Dhabi. Now he will get the chance to star in front of a packed crowd at the intimate CAMPUS Sursee Sportarena, the home of Swiss Triathlon, on Sunday (19:00 local time).
Joining Schoeman on the start list is two-time Arena Games winner Justus Nieschlag, who has never finished off the podium in five outings at the unique hybrid real life and virtual format, as well as German long distance star Maurice Clavel. Another one to watch will be Max Stapley, racing for the World Triathlon flag as he is changing nationality, and who raced all three Arena Games Triathlon events in the 2022 Series and finished sixth in the overall standings. Stapley holds the swim record jointly with Aurelien Raphael at 2:02.
Henri Schoeman said: “It just feels so amazing, I think it’s still sinking in a little bit. It’s been a long road for me to get back to this point and I was so happy to begin my year on a podium. I’m just looking forward to the rest of my season now.”
On the women’s side, Zsanett Bragmayer (HUN), who won the Arena Games Triathlon Grand Final in Singapore last year, heads up a women’s field which also contains Germany’s Anabel Knoll and the youngest ever athlete in the format, 15-year-old Fanni Szalai from Hungary.
Bragmayer proved last year that she has the right engine for these type of events, but how about in these conditions? Singapore was hot, humid…and outdoors, including an open water swim. Sursee will be indoors with a pool swim. Can she be as dominant again?
Knoll finished fourth in the 22 Arena Games Triathlon World Championship Series with impressive performances across all three races. Her peak was a third place in the Munich event but also picked up fourth in the Series finale in Singapore.
Other women to watch this Sunday will be Luisa Iogna-Prat (ITA), Cathia Schar (SUI) or Petra Kurikova (CZE).
They will all be aiming to emulate Chase McQueen and Gina Sereno, the American couple who took the wins in the opening race of the Series in Montreal. With one event score plus the Grand Final in London (April 8) counting for the World Championship title, there is a lot on the line.
For the first time in Arena Games history, the athletes will swim in a 25m pool rather than 50m, so there is greater emphasis on turns. That’s because the treadmills and bikes will be behind one another on a covered section of the rest of the pool, with a platform raising one above the other.