If you’ve read my race report about the Aquabike Standard Distance World Championship last October, you might remember that several issues arose during and after the race – some of which remain unresolved. While certain matters are still pending and may have lasting repercussions (at least, I hope so), there have been some recent developments that I’d like to share.

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In this final part of our 2024 Aquabike Season Review, we highlight the races with the narrowest and widest winning margins. Last year, we witnessed some thrilling finishes with mere seconds separating first and second place, alongside commanding performances where the winners left the competition far behind. Let’s dive into the closest and clearest victories in aquabike races during the past season.

Closest Wins in Men’s Aquabike Races in 2024

While we had two sprint distance races where the winner and the runner up finished within the same second, there were five more races with a winning margin of only one second. Most remarkable is certainly the long distance aquabike race at Challenge Almere in the Netzerlands. After almost six hours of racing, Rinse VAN DEN OUWEELEN put Steffen RADA into second place by only one second.

The tightest podium finish of the season occurred at the San Diego International Triathlon, where Rick KOZLOWSKI took the win 7 seconds ahead of Wesley HALE, with Ilya CANTOR taking third only 10 seconds behind the winner.

Closest Wins in Women’s Aquabike Races in 2024

In four aquabike races in 2024 the two fastest women finished within the same second. One of the was at the indoor aquabike race at the Almaty Triathlon League where Gaziza KUMAKBAEVA won ahead of Catherine SHAKY. With Dana KYDYRBEKOVA only 17 seconds down this was also the closest female podium of the season. The closest podium in an aquabike race out on the road was at the Park Center Sprint Triathlon where Michelle GARRETT finished 18 seconds ahead of Karla STEVENS, while Linda VIVONA followed only 20 more seconds later.

At the second race of the Bribie Triathlon Series in Queensland, Australia Kristana FORBES and Kate MORRIS had the same finishing time, both only five seconds behind the male winner Adrian TRUDGEON  and one seconds behind runner up Deon VAN DEVENTER.

Clearest Wins in Aquabike Races in 2024
For these statistics we only included races with at least 10 finishers.

At the Austria Triathlon Podersdorf Philipp STROLZ achieved an extraordinary victory in the long-distance aquabike race, finishing with a time gap of over one hour. Chapeau!

The largest winning margin in a middle-distance race occurred at the Michigan Titanium, where Lance BULTMAN crossed the finish line more than 30 minutes ahead of the rest of the field.

For the standard distance, the most dominant victory was claimed in Brazil at the Blue Series Bertioga, where Bruno ORDONHO ARAUJO finished over 17 minutes ahead of his competitors.

And then we come to the sprint distance category. According to the official results, Ian DONAHER achieved the largest margin of victory at the YMCA Wrightsville Beach Sprint Triathlon last September, finishing almost 22 minutes ahead of the runner-up. However, his bike leg time raises some questions. Completing the 17.7 km course in 21 minutes and 14 seconds would require an average speed of exactly 50 km/h—a remarkable feat, usually seen only among professional cyclists on ideal courses. While not impossible, such speeds are highly unusual in local triathlons or aquabike races.
If Ian’s results turn out to have an error, the largest confirmed winning margin in a sprint distance race would belong to Neil SEMMEL at the Culpeper Triathlon in July. In a season already full of records, Neil outpaced the second-place finisher by nearly 18 minutes, adding another standout achievement to his incredible year.

Congratulations to all aquabike podium finishers in 2024, no matter how close it was. I’m looking forward to seeing you compete again in 2025!

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The standard distance world championship in Torremolinos was not only the largest race of the season but also the biggest event in the history of aquabike – by a significant margin. Unfortunately, the race didn’t provide a great experience for all athletes, and some issues remain unresolved. We’ll delve deeper into those in an upcoming article.

Unsurprisingly, the long-distance world championship in Townsville was the second-largest race of the year. However, what stands out is that it also ranks among the biggest aquabike races ever. This is especially noteworthy given that aquabike is still a relatively young discipline in Australia. A remarkable 367 athletes took to the start line Down Under, making it the third-largest race in aquabike history, surpassed only by Torremolinos and the 2019 world championships in Pontevedra.

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In the second part of our 2024 season review, we highlighted the record-breaking growth in the number of races and athletes participating in aquabike events worldwide. But the season also brought some remarkable individual achievements. Can you imagine competing in 24 races in a single year? Or covering a racing distance of over 700 kilometers within one season? Some athletes were exceptionally active in the 2024 aquabike racing season—and highly successful, too. In this part of our review, we honor these dedicated aquabike athletes.

Female aquabike athletes with most race participations in 2024

In 2024, Monika Lukens not only maintained her position at the top of the Aquabike.World Women’s Ranking throughout the year, but she also repeated her impressive achievement of finishing 14 races—matching her record from 2023. In second place, Jennifer Long , another highly active US athlete in the same age group, completed 12 races last year. Meanwhile, third place in this category went to Britain’s Nicki Broad, the most active aquabike athlete from the UK, who finished 9 races in 2024.

While Monika and Jennifer focused solely on sprint and Olympic distance races, Nicki also took on longer challenges, accumulating a total race distance of 470 km—the longest among the top three. However, two other US athletes surpassed even that impressive total. The female athlete with the highest overall race distance in 2024 was Erin Byrge , who completed an incredible 546 km. Louisa Summers secured second place in this category with 482 km raced.

Female aquabike athletes with most wins in 2024

Monika Lukens continued to dominate in 2024, taking home an incredible 10 victories out of her 14 races – an improvement on her already remarkable 8 wins from 2023. Hats off to her extraordinary achievement! Second place was shared by three athletes, each securing 6 wins: Canadian Jillian Chown and US athletes Joanne Baggs Salaz and Laurie Hug.

Male aquabike athletes with most race participations in 2023

This is truly remarkable – 24 races in one season! Chapeau Neil Semmel! In the four years we’ve been tracking aquabike races worldwide, no one has come close to this record. In fact, the nearest competitor was Neil himself in the 2023 season, where he completed 15 races. But his 2024 achievement is on another level.

Joining Neil among the most active athletes are Michael Puhlmann , who finished 14 races, and Simon Gray , the most active athlete outside the U.S., with 11 races completed. Simon’s impressive season highlights the growing popularity of aquabike racing in the UK.

When it comes to distance, Angel Fernandez Martinez has dominated the stats for the longest race distance over the past two years. In 2023, he broke the 1,000 km mark, covering a stunning 1,037 km. In 2024, Angel shifted focus to shorter races, likely due to his participation in the Standard Distance World Championships. Still, he leads the ranking again with 739 km. Neil Semmel came very close with his 721 km from 24 races, followed by Spaniard Albert Torres Carles , who logged 713 km across his events.

Male aquabike athletes with most wins in 2023

What else can you say? Neil Semmel claimed victory in 17 out of his 24 races—a truly phenomenal accomplishment. Congratulations on this incredible achievement!

The second spot in the most wins ranking goes to Australian athlete Josh Horsley , who dominated his local scene with 8 wins in 9 races at the Twin Towns Triathlon events. Meanwhile, Simon Gray secured 7 wins out of his 11 races, showcasing his impressive consistency throughout the season.

Huge congratulations to all the aquabike race winners of 2024!

In the fourth part of our 2024 Aquabike Season Review, we will dive into the biggest races of the past year. Stay tuned!

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In 2024, a total of 1,178 aquabike races took place across 34 countries worldwide – an impressive 10% increase compared to 2023. Following the significant growth of previous years, this continued expansion is a highly encouraging development.

As expected, the majority of races were held in the United States, with a total of 651 events. This represents a slight decrease of two races compared to the previous year, largely due to event cancellations or conversions into bike-only races (which are not counted as aquabike events). Many of these changes were caused by hurricanes and their aftermath, particularly toward the end of the year. In Canada, the number of races also saw a minor decline, dropping from 76 to 75.

Across the Atlantic, however, aquabike experienced remarkable growth.

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