Bermuda boost for upbeat Henri
WORLD SERIES: COMMONWEALTH CHAMPION ‘READY’
Wesley Bo
Ton
riathlete Henri Schoeman is looking forward to the World Series race in Bermuda today, as he prepares to compete in his first contest since charging to the Commonwealth Games title earlier this month.
After taking second place behind countryman Richard Murray at the World Cup season-opener in Cape Town in February, Schoeman went on to win the World Series race in Abu Dhabi last month, climbing to the top of the global rankings with a 75-point gap over defending champion Mario Mola of Spain.
And after boosting his confidence even further with a dominant victory at the recent Commonwealth showpiece on Australia’s Gold Coast, the Olympic bronze medallist was eager to return to the top-flight circuit.
With his three previous races this year all being held over sprint distances, he was set to turn out over his favoured Olympic distance (1 500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run) for the first time in the 2018 campaign.
“I am really excited to be here in Bermuda. I have always liked island vibes,” Schoeman said this week.
“With the tough course, it is very interesting. I have done a little bit of scouting, but I am really looking forward to the course familiarisations coming up so I can see the course and give it a good feel.”
Murray, who settled for a relatively disappointing sixth place at the Gold Coast Games after stepping on the podium in Glasgow four years earlier, was also in the entry lists for the Bermuda leg of the World Series.
Despite successfully defending his title at the World Cup race in Cape Town earlier this season, Murray was lying 10th in the rankings in the early stages of the annual campaign.
There were no South African athletes in the elite women’s start lists for this weekend’s event in the Caribbean.