Sofia World Cup Day 1 Recap

The second of three World Cups for the 2021 season kicked off today with the competition being held in Sofia, Bulgaria. 82 athletes from around the world have come to compete and earn valuable Olympic Ranking Points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Day 1 started with the women’s semifinal and Team USA had four women entered, ready to compete against the rest of the world. Samantha Schultz (out of CO), Jessica Davis (out of NY), Isabella Isaksen (out of CO), and Claire Green (out of CO) will all be looking to get those Olympic Ranking Points.

Green was the lone USA representative in Group A. Her day started out with the fencing event. Green had a big improvement from the last world cup, finishing almost 50 points higher here in Sofia versus the last world cup. Her score of 194 points put her in 18^th place for the fencing event. Up next was the swimming event. Green was swimming out of lane 2 in heat 1. She swam a time of 2:35.46 and finished in 25^th place for the event. Green was starting the laser run in 22^nd place. For the laser run event, Green posted the 4^th fastest time in the field with a 13:03. With that time, she was able to pass a few people and cross the line in 17^th place overall, but missed out on qualifying for Friday’s final.

            Group B had Team USA athletes, Davis and Isaksen. The day started off with the swimming event. Isaksen had a small injury during the swim and unfortunately had to pull out of the competition for the day. Davis was swimming out of lane 3 in heat 1. Her time of 2:31.19 was a small improvement with her best time at this pool. That time put her in 24^th place for the event. Next up was the fencing event. Davis had a great fence, fencing for a total of 226 points, finishing in 8^th place for the event. Before the laser run, Davis was in 12^th place. She ran a time of 13:29, which was the 14^th fastest time of the group. She had some strong runners around her and dropped a couple of places. Davis finished in 14^th place overall in her group, just missing the final by 11 seconds.

            The last group of the day, Group C, had Schultz representing Team USA. Up first was the swimming event and Schultz swam in heat 2 lane 4. She swam a time of 2:21.71, equaling her best time in this pool and put her in 12^th place for the swim. The next event was the fencing event. Schultz had a rough start to the event, losing quite a few bouts at the beginning. She was able to finish the fence with a total of 146 points. After two events, Schultz was sitting in 26^th place. She was able to run the 5^th fastest time of the group with a 13:10. She passed a few people and ran her way to end up in 19^th overall in the group. With that finish, she was unable to qualify for the final.

            Unfortunately, no Team USA women qualified for the final. Tomorrow it is the men’s turn to compete in the semifinal of this World Cup. Follow Team USA’s results at uipm.org. GO TEAM USA!!!