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14 seconds is all it took - One of the closest Aquabike World Championship battles we’ve seen.

Saturday saw over 440 aquabikers from 29 countries take to the start line in Pontevedra for the Aquabike Standard Distance World Championships.

There appears to have been very little to complain about regarding the event itself, so let’s get into the racing.

Men’s race

Ivan RUBIO RUBIRA came out of the water first in 19:13, followed by Brit Ross HOSKING and eventual winner, Spaniard Victor GUTIERREZ GARCIA.

Victor competed the bike course in an incredible 55:59, the fastest split of the field, allowing him to take the win. Ross came in second, clocking a bike split of 56:09, meaning only 14 seconds separated the top two male finishers.

This was Victor’s aquabike debut, and Ross has only completed one event previously - quite the debut World Champs appearances.

Britain’s Sam HOLWILL came out of the water a couple of minutes behind the lead men, but with a 57:48 bike split, rode himself into 3rd place. He finished just 10 seconds ahead of Frank ERK who himself put down an incredible 56:03 bike split.

Women’s Race

Dominated by Kerry HICKSON. The Aquabike.World number 1 produced the fastest swim (21:04) and bike (1:02:39) splits in the women’s field to take the win in a convincing fashion.

In the swim, Kerry was closely followed by Hayley DAVIS who was just 1 second behind her, and Andrea DAMIANI.

Stephanie OECHSNER rode a 1:03:31 bike split to get herself into second place overall, and Andrea DAMIANI took third place.

More incredible performances

Andrea NIGHTINGALE took the title in the 65-69 AG, equalling the record for World Championship titles at 6, and the International Championship titles at 12.

Blair SAUNDERS won the 60-64 AG, equalling the men’s World Championship title record of 5.

Tommy NIELSEN took his 14th international medal, and Frank ERK his 8th international title - a male athlete record.

FIRST MEDALS

For Malta and Greece in Ryan MUSCAT and Christos GAREFIS.

OVERALL TABLE

GB dominate, followed by the US and Spain.

Full report link in bio.

#aquabike #aquabikeworld #swimbike #swimbikedone #worldagegroupchampionships taken in Pontevedra, Spain by @aquabikeworld

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17 days ago

Biggest Aquabike race EVER in the UK 🇬🇧

Despite many Brits racing at the World Champs in Pontevedra, last weekend saw the biggest ever aquabike event in the UK at Hever Castle. The Standard distance aqaubike (which is a qualifier for next year’s World’s in Hamburg) attracted 157 athletes.

With that, three of the four biggest ever aquabike races in the UK have taken place in 2026 - proof the sport is growing in the UK or what!?

Men’s Race

🥇 Simon WOODCOCK
🥈 Jonathon PARRY
🥉 Michael DAWES

Women’s Race

🥇 Zosia ROZALSKA
🥈 Vikki WALLACE
🥉 Clara MCELROY

#swimbike #swimbikedone #aquabike #britishtriathlon #aquabikeworld

@castleraceseries taken in Hever Castle & Gardens by @aquabikeworld

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19 days ago

World age group aquabike champion!! 🏆

Still processing it all, to win my age group and finish 3rd overall at a world championship is a crazy thing to say. Had the joy of my fastest ever open water swim and then a bike course that suited me perfectly 🤩

And to do it with my family who had travelled over to Spain made it even better 😃 even had my Dad racing with me! taken in Pontevedra, Spain by @aquabikeworld

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21 days ago

Good to luck to everyone racing in the World Aquabike Championship in Pontevedra tomorrow! 🏊 🚴 🌍

Some final reminders of key info ->

For further details, check out our race preview. Link in bio.

@worldtriathlon_agegroup @worldtriathlon

#worldtriathlon #aquabike #aquabikeworld #swimbike #worldtriathlonagegroupchampionships taken in Pontevedra, Spain by @aquabikeworld

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23 days ago

The 2026 World Standard Aquabike Championship is (nearly) here. 🌍 🏊 🚴

It was September 2023 when Pontevedra held the second ever World Standard Aquabike Championship, following the event’s debut in Abu Dhabi. Three years ago, 340 athletes took to the start line. This year, almost 500 athletes are on the start list.

With a swim in the tidal Lérez River and hilly (and most likely busy) out-and-back bike course, the route is sure to be an interesting one.

Weather looks promising for Saturday - 26°C and a light wind - but heavy thunderstorms and rain on Sunday. We’ll keep our fingers crossed the rain doesn’t come sooner than expected.

On to the pre-race favourites.

All top 5 men in the current Aquabike World Ranking will be competing in Pontevedra. Tommy NIELSEN finished 3rd - exactly 2 minutes behind the winner, after serving a 2 minute penalty - in Banyoles. The winner of that race, Paul VANOTTI is also competing.

Last year’s world long distance winner - crowned on these streets - Igor FRANKO and long-time rankings leader Frank ERK are also likely to be near the front.

There are several names you may not be so familiar with looking to get on the podium, the likes of Irishman Martin MIZGAJSKI and Brit Ross HOSKING. These men will be making their international debut, but have had strong national performances, as have American Tiago DEPAULA SOUZA and Canadian William THRIFT.

Who’ll win? Don’t know. But we’re pretty sure it will be a close men’s race.

The women’s race is likely to be shaped by the Brits and, somewhat surprisingly, Canadians, according to our pre-race analysis. Kerry HICKSON has a comfortable lead in the rankings, and will be making her international debut.

American Stephanie OECHSNER has won all the championship events she has entered, so will be a tough woman to beat.

Canada’s leading contender is Andrea DAMIANI, followed by the likes of Alicia SLADE. Back to the Brits, and expect to see Hayley DAVIS, Victoria ROTHWELL, Catherine SEN, Ella CARTER and Pascale WEHR all in contention.

Link to full race preview in bio. taken in Pontevedra, Spain by @aquabikeworld

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a month ago

First ever aquabike race in Andorra 🇦🇩

The first ever aquabike race took place in Andorra last Sunday. The event also served as the National Championship.

Men’s race:

🥇 Kilian CAPARROS PONS
🥈 Vinenc Jorge SECO
🥉 Eduard PALLISE ALVAREZ

Full results: https://www.aquabike.world/events/copa-dandorra-triathlon-2026/results/

#swimbike #swimbikedone #aquabike #aquabikeworld #andorra taken in Andorra by @aquabikeworld

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a month ago

Biggest Aquabike Race in the Netherlands 🇳🇱

Over 60 aquabikers took to the start line at Challenge Almere over the weekend in what was the biggest aquabike race in the Netherlands to date (apart from the World Championships, which were held at the same event back in 2021).

The field brought together athletes from all over the world, with athletes competing under the Dutch, French, German, British, Italian, Australian, Brazilian and Suiss flags to name but a few.

In the middle distance …

Men’s race:

🥇 Udo VOSS
🥈 Adam DAVID PHILLIPS @adamdavidphillips
🥉 Jan METHFESSEL jan_next_level

Women’s race:

🥇 Daphne POLLEUNIS @daphnepolleunis
🥈 Eva ZIMMERMANN
🥉 Marloes VOORHOUT

Full results: https://www.aquabike.world/events/challenge-almere-2026-middle-distance-aquabike/results/

And in the long distance …

Men’s race:

🥇 Nick ESSER @nicke995
🥈 Pieter BRUMMER
🥉 Uwe WARNATZ

Women’s race:

🥇 Nicole LOEVE
🥈 Claire SARGEANT

Full results: https://www.aquabike.world/events/challenge-almere-2026-long-distance-aquabike/results/

#swimbike #swimbikedone #aquabike #aquabikeworld #challengealmere

@challengealmere @challengefamily taken in Almere, Netherland by @aquabikeworld

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a month ago

Ukranian Igor FRANKO is New Leader in the Men’s Rankings. 🥇

Reigning long distance world champion Igor FRANKO overtakes Frank ERK to lead the men’s rankings.

FRANKO hasn’t raced aquabike since the European Championships in Banyoles, but ERK raced at the inaugural Berlin WoMan last weekend. ERK came second to Janne BUTTEL, a young German Triathlete pro who has some Ironman 70.3 podiums under his belt this season.

Due to the way the ranking system works, with points in part allocated by the time gap to the winner, this meant ERK didn’t receive as many points for the race as he otherwise would’ve got had such a strong athlete not been on the start line.

This, coupled with the fact ERK lost points from the 2025 Austrian Championship, as this event has now stopped contributing the current rankings as has been superseded by the 2026 Austrian Championship, meant FRANKO has enough points to overtake ERK and claim top spot.

With just a few weeks to go until the World Standard Championships in Pontevedra, and then just a few more until the World Long Distance Championships in Abu Dhabi, will the rankings change again this season?

#aquabike #aquabikeworld #swimbike #swimbikedone #worldtriathlon

@igorfranko by @aquabikeworld

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a month ago

Numbers in Long Distance Aquabike May Be Down in the US … But They’re Soaring in Poland 🇵🇱

A few weeks ago, we reported on how numbers at the US Long Distance Championships were low.

The same cannot be said for numbers at the Polish Long Distance Championships, which took place at the Castle Triathlon Malbork last weekend.

The race has hosted the long distance national championships for five years now, and this year saw record breaking numbers with 68 competitors in the event.

This ranked it as the second biggest aquabike race ever over the full ironman distance, after the world championships at Challenge Almere in 2021. The long distance world championships are usually shorter than full Ironman distance, typically only 3km swim, 120km bike, which means there aren’t as many highly-participated full Ironman distance aquabike races as you may assume.

There were over 3x as many athletes at this years event in Poland compared to the first edition in 2022, which is an incredible growth.

Imagine if the trend continues! 🤩

And congratulations to the men’s podium:

🥇 Karol JOPKIEWICZ
🥈 Szymon FAJOK
🥉 Marek MARKOWSKI

And the women’s podium...

🥇 Maryna STRALTSOVA
🥈 Agnieszka CZARNECKA
🥉 Joanna KUNDZEWICZ

Full results: https://www.aquabike.world/events/castle-triathlon-malbork-2026/results/

Image credits: Instagram @karoljopkiewicz (top) @streltzova13 (bottom)

#swimbike #swimbikedone #aquabike #aquabikeworld #triathlonpoland taken in Poland by @aquabikeworld

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a month ago

Austrian National Championship sells out … is this the issue with hosting an aquabike alongside a triathlon? 🇦🇹

Last weekend saw athletes race at the Austrian aquabike championships at Austria Triathlon Podersdorf.

Participation was down on last year, but this wasn’t from a lack of interest from athletes.

Entries sold out quickly and, as the event also hosted the triathlon middle distance championships, many entries went to triathletes. The championship still saw 54 aquabikers take part, but how many would’ve been in the field if more places had been available to aquabikers?

It was a similar story at another Austrian middle distance race last weekend, the Aloha Tri Mondseeland. Entries were sold out, with a relatively small aquabike field.

Have you experienced sold out entries at an aquabike event? Comment below. 👇

And huge congratulations to the new Austrian aquabike champions …

Male:

🥇 Philip LAMPRECHT
🥈 Andreas KRONER
🥉 David ZECHLEITNER

Female:

🥇 Alina POLJANC
🥈 Franka GRABINGER
🥉 Martina ALBRECHT

Full results: https://www.aquabike.world/events/austria-triathlon-podersdorf-2026-halbdistanz-aquabike/results/

#aquabike #swimbike #swimbikedone #aquabikrworld #triathlonaustria taken in Neusiedlersee Podersdorf by @aquabikeworld

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a month ago

Danish Aquabikers Lead All Time National Championship Medal Table … But Do They Truly?? 🤔

Take a look at the top of the All Time Men’s Major Championship Medal Table and you will see it is topped by two Danish athletes - Birger FREDERIKSEN and Tommy NIELSEN. They are well acquainted with the podium at major aquabike races, and last weekend at the Danish National Standard Championship was no different, as both men added another National title to their collections.

Tommy NIELSEN took the overall win, dominating across swim, transition and bike. This takes Tommy’s national title tally to 7, and his national and international gold tally to 12. This is the highest number of golds achieved by any athlete, male or female, since our records began in 2017.

Birger FREDERIKSEN also took his 7th national Age-Group title, which takes his total medal count across national and international championships to a remarkable 18 medals. This is 5 more than Tommy, who is now holding second place in the ranking with the same overall number of medals as Blair SAUNDERS and Álvaro CABRERO GUTIERREZ.

With 7 National titles each, based on our current records, Tommy and Birger are leaders in the national titles table. But are they really? 🤔

Our current database only goes back to 2017. Before this, there was only one country holding national championships - the US - which has held national aquabike championships since 2012. There are several US athletes that have won 6 national titles since 2017, so chances are someone has at least equalled the national championship title record, if not surpassed it.

Do you think you’ve won more national titles than the Danish men? Do you know an athlete who has? US athletes, we’re looking at you! 🇺🇸 🫵

In the women’s race, Annette RASK THOMSEN defended her overall win from last year, taking her 4th national aquabike championship win.

Results from the Danish nationals : https://www.aquabike.world/events/silkeborg-triathlon-2026/results/

Athlete Medal Count Table : https://www.aquabike.world/medal-table-athletes/

#aquabike #aquabikeworld #swimbikedone #swimbike taken in Silkeborg, Denmark by @aquabikeworld

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2 months ago

OECHSNER wins big at US Long Course Nationals, but participation numbers stay low.

The US long distance - or ultra, as the Americans tend to call it - aquabike championships took place at the Peasantman in Penn Yan, NY last weekend.

Josh WOLF won the men’s event, but arguably it was Stephanie OECHSNER @stephoech615 who stole the show. She finished only 4 minutes behind the men’s winner, and had the fastest swim of the day. She broke the course record in a remarkable 6:34:37 for the 3.9km swim and 187km ride.

However, unfortunately, we have to mention the low participation numbers at this event. Only 11 athletes took part, which is just a slither of the numbers we’re used to seeing at the shorter distance US championships, or other national and international championships worldwide. Admittedly, this is 2 more athletes than last year, but still, these really aren’t numbers to shout about.

Why are numbers so low? Is it that people just don’t like the long stuff? Is it a confidence thing? Not having the time to do the training required?

It isn’t just the US, although this does seem to be a standout example. Numbers in the full distance races worldwide do tend to be significantly lower.

That said, last weekend also saw the biggest ever long distance race which didn’t serve as a major championship. The Nordschwarzwald Triathlon Full Distance Aquabike was taken on by 39 athletes which is good going for a non-championship long distance race.

It was a competitive one too, especially on the women’s side. Recent European Champion Kristina BÜHLER @chillylalilly , who struck gold over in the women’s race in Banyoles, had to settle for third at the Nordschwarzwald Triathlon. Finnja ERNSTBERGER and Carmen GANDER finished 10 minutes ahead of BÜHLER this time round.

What are your thoughts on long distance racing? Why are participation numbers so much lower? We’d love to hear your thoughts below. 👇

Image credits @stephoech615 taken in Penn Yan, New York by @aquabikeworld

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2 months ago