We are less than one week away from the second Standard Distance Aquabike World Championships. While less than 200 aquabike athletes travelled to last year´s premiere in Abu Dhabi, this year´s edition in Pontevedra will see a twice as big field of competitors fighting for gold, silver and bronze medals. It´s not the first time aquabike world champions are crowned in the city in the north-west of Spain. In 2019 the third edition of the Long Distance Aquabike World Championships were held in the same location. So the local organizers do have some experience with organizing big multisport events and we can hope to see a well organized race. However, there is one point of criticism. If you have read my race previews and reports of the most recent major races in Spain it´s not hard to guess what it is about.
The Swim
But first things first. The 1.5 km swim will take place in Rio Lérez. Aquabike athletes will have an in water start in seven start waves, decreasing by age. So, the older age groups start first, the younger start last. Since the younger athletes are usually faster, this means that the field of aquabike athletes will be potentially narrowing on the bike leg. On the other hand, this means that the faster aquabike athletes start quite some time behind the last triathletes – which will also have the younger athletes starting later. This will hopefully be a big advantage towards the finish – but more about that later.
First half of the swim is technically upstream. But it´s a tidal river and at the time aquabike athletes are in the water we will have an incoming current. But at that time, it´s probably barely notable. High tide will be one hour after the last aquabike wave started. So, the current shouldn´t be very strong and also get less during the swim. So, swimming against the current on the way back should not be an issue at all.
The Transition
Very similar to the European Championships a few weeks ago, the transition zone is located on the football field of the local stadium. The run from swim exit into the stadium through the transition and with your bike out of the stadium to the mountline should be roughly between 500 and 600 metres altogether. About half of it is on the smooth lawn of the football field which is good news for those who avoid running due to an injury.
The Bike
Other than the transition the bike course is the opposite of the EC bike course in Belgium. It´s a two-lap bike course – not technical at all, but one major climb to tackle each lap. Leaving transition there a few uphill sections on the first kilometres. The main climb starts with about 5.5 km, a two-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 5.7%, but with some steep sectors as well. And you have to keep something in the tank, because there is no descent right after the climb. The road continues undulating all the way until the turning point where you´ll du a U-turn ging back over the same hills before you get to the descent down to Pontevedra. There are only a few roundabouts at the beginning and towards the end of each lap and one U-turn per lap. The rest of the course is a straight wide road with no technical sections at all.
The Finish
The information on the race website and also in the athlete guide might be a bit confusing. In some points it is saying, that aquabikers have to run from T2 to the finishline. Yes, aquabikers have to get through transition and to the finish, since there is no aquabike dedicated finish area like in last year´s race in Abu Dhabi. Since the finishline is in the stadium, it´s not too far though. And more important: the finish time is taken at the dismount line. Yes, at the dismount line. So while slow triathletes zigzagging their way to T2 while getting out of their bike shoes, aquabike athletes will be sprinting for the title. Doesn´t sound like a good idea to me. About a year ago I wrote an open letter to World Triathlon after aquabike athletes had to run about 800 metres to the finishline, asking to rethink this change in the competition rules.
And so they did. I don´t know if it was due to my initiative. If this is the case, I have to say I´m starting to regret it. The change of the rules was right, but what the organizers of the two World Championships races this year made out of it is a desaster. It might be a bit paradox having an aquabike race decided in a final run and it might not be fair towards those athletes who chose this sport due to an injury. But at least it´s safe. Letting aquabike athletes sprint towards the dismount line together with slowly approaching triathletes certainly isn´t. Well, it was safe in Ibiza due to a quite creative solution of the organizer. Before the race the athletes were told, that the finishline is 50 metres before the dismount line. Which wasn´t true, but obviously it avoided aquabike athletes sprinting to the dismount line. Unfortunately (?) organizers in Pontevedra have been a bit less creative – or just don´t see any problem here. At least I want to give them some credit for setting up the start waves in a way that not too many aquabikers and triathletes should approach T2 together. That´s certainly a big plus here. However, is it really that difficult to place one more timing mat a bit before T2? I also want to point out once again that according to World Triathlon competition rules there is no possible penalty for an aquabike athlete who gets off the bike a little too late as I already explained in my race preview for Ibiza. Nobody seems to even think about that.
Am I expecting too much?
The Weather
I wouldn´t expect the weather to play a big rule in this race. There is some rain predicted over the next few days, but the forecast for the race weekend looks like we will have perfect conditions for an aquabike race. Sunny, around 20°C and only a light breeze from the south. Couldn´t be any better.
The Favourites
Not only the number of competing athletes is much bigger than in last years race. Also the quality of the field in the men´s as well as in the women´s race is quite remarkable. There are some top favourites in both races but the number of possible contenders for the top ranks is pretty big. I think we can expect some quite close races for the medals in many age-groups.
The Men´s Race
Big absent in the men´s race is the current leader of the Aquabike.World Ranking Mathieu Dumont. Not only did he win the Long Distance World´s as well as the European Championships this year, he also won the 2019 Long Distance World Championships in Pontevedra. Obviously, the distance is less suitable for the uber-biker. It would have been interesting to see if the 40 km are enough to catch the stronger swimmers. However, we will still have a race packed with super strong athletes. Speaking of the Aquabike.World Ranking – current #2 and #3 will be competing in Pontevedra.
Frank Erk showed a super strong performance, finishing 3rd overall at the European´s in Menen, a few weeks ago. With cycling being his clearly stronger discipline he will have a hard time catching all the fast swimmers in the shorter standard distance race though.
So the course and race distance seems to suit Ross Hamilton a bit better. In Menen he finished about a minute and a half behind Frank, but has certainly better chances to hold off the strong cyclist in Pontevedra. [Update: unfortunately Ross will not be starting in Pontevedra] But the two main favourites of the race are actually two other guys…
Cesar Pereira Del Pino finished 2nd at the World´s in Ibiza, missing the overall win by just 21 seconds. The Spaniard is a strong swimmer and if he shows up in the same form as in May, he will certainly be hard to catch on the bike.
Probably the best chances to do so has the runner up of the European Championships a few weeks ago. Tommy NIELSEN is also a pretty strong swimmer and should not loose too much time in the water. Could be a really close battle between those two athletes.
But there are also some UK athletes who should be able to fight for the top spots. Most notable is probably Robin HUGHES. The young British athlete hasn´t competed in an aquabike race this year yet, but showed outstanding performances in the two races he did in 2022. I´m curious to see how competitive he will be in an international race.
The same applies to Mark TAYLOR, who already competed in an aquabike race this year though. At the qualification race for next year´s World´s which took place just about a week ago at St. Neots Triathlon he finished second out of 156 competitors – finishing at the same time as the winner.
With all the podium finishers from Abu Dhabi not competing in Pontevedra, last year´s 4th placed Thomas WINKELMANN will be the best placed athlete from this race coming to Pontevedra and is certainly an athlete to keep an eye on.
Another athlete to watch out for will be current #10 in the Aquabike.World Ranking Liam Miller, coming out of the winter in New Zealand. And there are some other strong Spanish athletes like Victor SÁNCHEZ GARCÍA, Albert TORRES CARLES and Javier RODRIGUEZ ALONSO.
The Women´s Race
Other than in the men´s race the defending champion from Abu Dhabi will also be competing in Pontevedra. After missing the overall podium at the European Championships in Belgium, Amy Pritchard showed an impressive performance at St. Neots Triathlon last weekend, finishing 5th overall, only about a minute behind the men´s winner. Looks like she´s well prepared to defend her title. And she will need to be. Because another World Champion will be racing in Pontevedra as well.
Katrín Pálsdóttir took a surprise victory at her first ever aquabike race at this year´s Long Distance World Championships in Ibiza. The girl from Iceland clearly has her strength on the bike and will probably have some time to catch up after the swim. Will the 40 km on the bike be enough?
So the two World Champions are the big favourites in the women´s race. There are not many other female aquabikers competing in Pontevedra who have yet shown their strength in an international race, but many who have quite a few brilliant results in local races. Since local aquabike races often don´t have too many competitors it´s often a bit hard to say how those results translate to the big stage of a World Championship race. Two young British athletes who should be mentioned in that context are Rosalind DAVIES-JONES and Eleanore NASH who both showed strong performances in their most recent races.
There are also two athletes from Canada to watch out for. Andrea DAMIANI took the overall win in all three aquabike races she competed in. She might loose her clean sheet regarding beating also all the men in a race. But she could well be in there for the top spots in the women´s race. So could her fellow countrywoman Courtney LANG who already has some experience on the international stage though, finishing 5th in last year´s World´s in Abu Dhabi.
And there are really quite a few female US athletes with great results in local races. It´s really hard to pick who might have the best chances to compete also for the top ranks of the World Championships. Current #6 in the Women´s Aquabike.World Ranking Erin BYRGE might be a candidate to do so. So is Chesney WATSON who showed some strong performances is 2022 but did not compete in an aquabike race yet in 2023.
As always in international aquabike races we also have some strong female athletes from Germany on the start line. Gabriele KECK and Kai SACHTLEBER both finished in the top 10 at the European´s in Menen and will also be competing in Pontevedra.
And last but not least I should mention Vanessa URBANZ. The Austrian athlete finished just outside the top 10 at last year´s Long Distance World Championships in Šamorín. The standard distance race in Pontevedra should suit the strong swimmer better though.
I´m sure we will see some great racing and some very close finishes. Good luck and all the best for those of you who will be competing for the medals in Pontevedra. Take care and stay safe – especially towards the mountline.
Some maybe helpful links:
2023 Standard Distance Aquabike World Champioships Race Details
Athlete Guide