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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