Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025

US Team Named For Longines League Of Nations Abu Dhabi

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The U.S. team for the first leg of the Longines League of Nations taking place Feb. 15 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, has been announced.

Teams for the 10-nation competition have been confirmed, according to a press release from the Fédération Equestre Internationale. Lucy Davis Kennedy, Kaitlin Campbell, Taylor Kain and Skylar Wireman, led by chef d’equipe Robert Ridland, will represent the United States.

Ireland’s chef d’equipe Michael Blake has named his team for Abu Dhabi as Longines League of Nations newcomers Trevor Breen and Jason Foley, alongside Denis Lynch and Michael Pender. France sends out Kevin Staut, Simon Delestre, Jeanne Sadran and Alexa Ferrer.

Otto Becker named Katrin Eckermann, Sophie Hinners, Jörne Sprehe and Maximilian Weishaupt to spearhead the 2025 campaign for reigning champions, Germany.

Di Lampard’s Paris Olympic team gold medalists Great Britain are represented by Tim Gredley, Joseph Stockdale, Donald Whitaker and Robert Murphy, whilst Peter Weinberg relies upon Rik Hemeryck, Thibeau Spits, Jos Verlooy and Wilm Vermeir to get Belgium off to a flying start. Young chef d’equipe Peter van der Waaij has selected Bryan Balsiger, team gold medalist of the FEI Jumping European Championship 2021 in Riesenbeck (Germany), alongside Romain Duguet, Janika Sprunger and Edouard Schmitz to open Switzerland’s campaign.

Under their new chef d’equipe Wout-Jan van der Schans, 2024 runners-up the Netherlands, call upon Kevin Jochems, Tani Joosten, Leopold van Asten and Jur Vrieling to get their 2025 season off to a strong start.

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Henrik Ankarcrona’s reigning World and European Champions Sweden will be pinning their hopes on Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Angelie von Essen, Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli and Petronella Andersson to build on their podium finish from last year. 

Making their debut appearance in the Longines League of Nations, Italy will be represented by Piergiorgio Bucci, Emanuele Camilli, Giacomo Casadei and Giulia Martinengo Marquet Abdullah Mohd Al Marri, Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi, Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi and Humaid Abdulla Khalifa Al Muhairi will represent the host nation UAE.

The Longines League of Nations 2025 series will follow the same format as 2024, differing slightly from that of traditional Nations Cups. The competition is comprised of two full rounds of jumping over the same course. All teams send out four athletes in round one with the best three scores counting for the team total. 

The best eight teams return for round two, where they no longer have the luxury of a discard score as only three athletes from each team may jump again and every score counts. After two rounds, the team with the lowest combined score (the least faults) will be the winner.

In the event of a tie on penalties for first place after the second round, there will be a jump-off between the tying nations with just one athlete from each of those teams contesting the jump-off. There will be no jump-off for any placings beyond this. In the event of a tie for lower placings the combined time of the three athletes in the second round will determine the final standings.

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