An opportunity to shake up the standings at this weekend’s CSIO5* Nations Cup in Poland

Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Belgium can move up in the standings at this week’s CSIO5*-NC, taking place from June 14–17 in this town founded in the 8th century. They will be joined by visiting squads from the United States – Jamie Barge, Margie Engle, Lillie Keenan, Devin Ryan and Jessica Springsteen – and the home side Poland, which normally competes in Division 2.

After previous qualifiers in Samorin, Slovakia, La Baule, France, and St. Gallen, Switzerland, Switzerland sits on top of the Division 1 standings, followed by Germany and Spain. Seven Division 1 teams will qualify for that Barcelona Final, from October 4–7, won last year by the Netherlands – the most out of any regional league in the world (Spain automatically gets into the event as host nation). Ireland and Great Britain, both absent at the Nations Cup of Poland although represented individually by Eoin McMahon and Anna Power, are currently in sixth and eighth places respectively.

Among the 58 riders and 145 horses from 14 countries in Sopot are a strong group from Belgium (Niels Bruynseels, Pieter Devos, Jérôme Guery, Gudrun Patteet and Olivier Philippaerts), as well as top competitors from Sweden (including Henrik Von Eckermann), France (Kevin Staut) and Spain (Eduardo Alvarez Aznar and Sergio Alvarez Moya).

Each country can organise only one CSIO5* Nations Cup a year, events which are part of the worldwide team-based competition dating back more than a century. In Poland, the competition has moved around over the years, including being held in the country’s capital Warsaw before arriving in Sopot.

The coastal town, which has a population of around 40,000, is known as a major health spa and tourist resort destination. In fact, the name is “thought to derive from an old Slavic word sopot meaning “stream” or “spring”. The same root occurs in a number of other Slavic toponyms; it is probably onomatopeic, imitating the sound of running water – murmur (Šepot). (Today several streams run into the sea in the area of the town).”