More races, more athletes and the biggest aquabike race in history. 2024 was another record-breaking year for our still-young multisport discipline. In the second part of our season review, you’ll see plenty of record-setting numbers. But first, let’s take a look at how the championship races and some of the other major events of the season unfolded.
As usual, the first national championship race of the year was held in New Zealand on February 11th. Like in 2023, the Kinloch Triathlon once again served as the national aquabike championship for Kiwi athletes. Tyler MUMBY claimed victory in the men’s race, while Rachel MAYHEW secured a narrow win in the women’s race.
On March 24th we had a national aquabike championship race taking place at an Ironman event for the first time ever. James THORP and Bec STEDMAN took the Australian titles at the Ironman 70.3 Geelong.
A week later the first ever aquabike race in Mexico finally took place at the Aquabike Ultra La Isla. After it was already scheduled for the previous year but with no athletes signing up, this time three athletes tackled the 10 km swim and 155 km bike leg on the island of Cozumel.
Overall runner up of the first ever Standard Distance World Championships in Abu Dhabi in 2022 Bruce CAMPBELL achieved another milestone by becoming South Africa’s first national aquabike champion on April 6th. The race, held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Triathlon, also saw Michelle CREMER claim the women’s title.
The most prominent winner of an aquabike race in 2024 came at the Belgian championships in early May, where world-class triathlete Pieter HEEMERYCK narrowly won the title in a highly competitive field. While HEEMERYCK finished 34 seconds ahead, Marie LUYCKX won the women’s race by just one second.
The first-ever aquabike race in Kazakhstan followed a week later, hosted as an indoor event at the Almaty Triathlon League.
On May 18th, the Spanish Middle Distance Aquabike Championships took place at the Half Triathlon Pamplona – Iruña. Fabián BADÍA VICENT and Paula BLANCO LATORRE won their respective categories in what served as a dress rehearsal for the European Multisport Championships, set to be hosted by this event in 2025. A week later, Igor FRANKO and Beatriz ALONSO MURILLO won their first national gold medals at the long-distance race at the Epic Triathlon.
Poland held the first of its four national aquabike championships on May 25th at the JBL Triathlon Sieraków, where Marek MARKOWSKI and Agnieszka GADOMSKA claimed national titles over the middle distance. MARKOWSKI added another title a month later at the sprint distance championships in Susz, where Patrycja BIELECKA won the women’s race. The standard distance championships took place at the Elemental Tri Series Białystok in mid-August. Former Olympic swimmer Filip ZABOROWSKI won the men’s race by a clear margin while Monika JADCZAK took the women’s title in her first ever aquabike race. The long distance championships where once again held at the Castle Triathlon Malbork in early September. 2023 runner up Adam OGŁOBLIN now stood atop of the podium in the men’s race while Ola KORULCZYK could defend her title in the women’s competition.
And we had another premier national championship race in May. Challenge Sankt Pölten hosted the first ever aquabike nationals in Austria where Martin MITTEREGGER took a clear victory in the men’s race. The women’s race was dominated by athletes from Germany. Despite missing the overall podium of the race, Theresa MISTELBAUER still could bring home the gold medal as Austrian national champion.
The United States saw its standard distance national championships held in Omaha on June 6th. Due to bad weather, the race was shortened to a sprint distance. Jackson HARRELL , who finished third the previous year, won the men’s race, while Stephanie OECHSNER showed an impressive performance, coming in 3rd overall to win her third national aquabike title. delivered a stellar performance, taking third overall and winning her third national title in the women’s category. Later, on August 10th, the Michigan Titanium hosted the first-ever full Ironman distance aquabike national championship, with Brian REYNOLDS and Sharon LEVY emerging victorious. The U.S. Half Distance Aquabike Championships were held for the second consecutive year at CLASH Daytona in December. Unfortunately, for the second time in three years, the swim had to be canceled due to unfavorable conditions, turning the event into a bike time trial. Jared GENTILE and Felicity JOYCE emerged as the winners, showcasing impressive performances despite the modified race format.
On June 8th, the Altai3race Aquabike in Altai Krai made headlines as the first aquabike-only draft-legal race in Russia – a rare format in the aquabike world. While the event claimed to be the first aquabike race in Russia, records indicate a previous race took place seven years earlier. Regardless, the race marked a significant comeback for the discipline in the country.
Later in June, the European Championships were held in Coimbra, Portugal, offering aquabike athletes exclusive access to the course for the first time. The aquabike race began three hours after the triathlon, creating a unique and focused competition environment. In the men’s race, the podium saw familiar faces from 2023. This time, Tommy NIELSEN managed to hold off uberbiker Mathieu DUMONT on the bike leg, securing the overall victory. Frank ERK completed the podium once again. In the women’s race, Victoria ROTHWELL climbed to the top step of the podium after finishing third the previous year. 2023 World Champion Katrín PÁLSDÓTTIR settled for second place, with Deborah BEARE claiming third, just seconds behind. For a detailed analysis, check out our full race report.
The national titles in Slovakia went to Marek ČIČMANEC and Barbora ŠUCHOVÁ at the Black Swan Aquabike on June 30th.
On July 13th, the UK hosted its biggest aquabike race of the year at the Upton Triathlon, one of three qualifiers for the 2025 Standard Distance World Championships. As in previous years, these qualifiers were among the largest aquabike races in the UK. However, with the 2025 World Championships taking place in Australia, the qualification races attracted significantly fewer athletes compared to last year’s qualifiers for the 2024 World Championships in Spain.
Despite this, the UK saw a remarkable increase in both aquabike athletes and events in 2024. Two notable races deserve mention: the aquabike event at the Vitruvian Triathlon, which became the largest non-qualification aquabike race in UK history, and the Y Bala Aquabike race, which hosted the first-ever national aquabike championship in the UK. This inaugural event, serving as the Welsh National Championship, was particularly significant as it was also the first recorded aquabike race in Wales Oliver SIMON and Stephanie WARING claimed the first overall aquabike national titles in Great Britain.
Excitingly, 2025 will bring the first English and British National Championships at the Burghley Multisport Weekend in May, further cementing the growth of aquabike in the UK.
Across the Irish Sea, Ireland has been hosting national aquabike championships since 2018. The 2024 edition took place on August 18th at the Fingal Skerries Aquabike. Toby BEDELL and Nicola KEHOE both secured their first overall national titles.
A week later, the spotlight shifted to Townsville, Australia, where the new Aquabike World Champions were crowned. Young Kiwi athlete Xander MARSH delivered an outstanding performance, defeating his Australian competitors Christo BALL and Mickie CURRAN , who completed the men’s podium. With only a few top male European aquabike athletes making the long journey to Queensland, Marsh seized the opportunity to shine.
In contrast, the women’s podium was a fully European affair. Germany’s Jennifer ZENKER took the overall title, showcasing her strength against the British duo of Amy PRITCHARD and Emily LEWIS , who secured second and third place, respectively.. You can read more about this race in the full race report.
The Esprit Montreal Triathlon, which became a Challenge Family event in 2024, hosted the Canadian Aquabike Championships for the third consecutive year. The championships included races over the Olympic and half distances, but participation remained alarmingly low.
In the Olympic distance race, Andrew THOMPSON and Catherine BELANGER claimed the overall titles, providing a highlight for the event. However, the middle-distance championships saw only six athletes compete, with Olivier DESLOGES crowned the men’s national champion and Maryse LEBRUN taking the title as the sole female participant.
The lack of participation raises questions about the event’s appeal. While the Olympic distance race saw slightly better numbers with 20 participants, this turnout is far from impressive for a national championship. Unsurprisingly, Challenge Esprit Triathlon announced it will no longer include aquabike races in its program going forward.
Triathlon Canada has yet to release its national championship calendar for 2025. Hopefully, whichever event hosts the next aquabike nationals will see a stronger turnout and reinvigorate interest in the sport.
The last national championship on European soil was carried out the same weekend in Slovenia at the Triathlon Bled. Jurij DROBNIČ took the title in his first aquabike race while Dina PETERCA ŠVIGELJ defended her title in the women’s race.
The Standard Distance World Championships took place on October 19th in Torremolinos, near Malaga in southern Spain. With 534 aquabike athletes at the start line, this became the largest aquabike race in history. However, the event fell short of many athletes’ expectations due to several organizational issues, incidents, and accidents. If you haven’t already, check out our race review for a detailed breakdown, with another article set to address these concerns further.
Despite the challenges, the event crowned new world champions. In the men’s race, former Olympic swimmer Filip ZABOROWSKI from Poland demonstrated his exceptional swimming and cycling prowess, securing the title despite a crash during the race. Terence JACK from New Zealand, who also suffered a crash, took second place, while Brendan MUELLER from the United States rounded out the podium.
In the women’s race, Brooke DAVIS-GOODALL from New Zealand claimed the overall title, delivering a dominant performance. Andrea DAMIANI from Canada secured second place, followed by British athlete Eleanore NASH. So we had a fully intercontinental podium in both races. The wide international spread and the significantly higher number of young athletes competing in Torremolinos are certainly two very pleasing developments. Stay tuned for an article about the less pleasing developments regarding this and future world championships.
With both World Championships combined, athletes from the United States emerged as the most successful, securing an impressive 17 titles. However, in terms of total medal counts, the US ranked third in the world of aquabike racing, with “only” 29 medals. The Brits dominated the overall medal table, with no less than 38 athletes climbing the podium, followed closely by Australia with 35 medals.
A closer look at the gender-specific medal tables reveals interesting dynamics. Among the men, the hosting countries Australia and Spain topped the medal charts, claiming the most titles and total medals. In contrast, the women’s medal table highlighted the dominance of the United States and the UK, with the Americans leading in both titles and total medals. Spanish women, however, surprisingly failed to secure any medals at their home event.
These trends underscore regional differences in participation and success, but the international spread of medals and titles is a positive sign for the growing inclusivity and competitiveness of aquabike racing worldwide.
| Rank | Country |  |  |  |
| 1. | Australia | 21 | 12 | 10 |
| 2. | United States of America | 20 | 6 | 6 |
| 3. | United Kingdom | 16 | 13 | 11 |
| 4. | New Zealand | 7 | 6 | 3 |
| 5. | Spain | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| 6. | Germany | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 7. | Poland | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 8. | Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 9. | Canada | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10. | Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 11. | Gibraltar | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12. | Belgium | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 13. | Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14. | France | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15. | Denmark | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16. | Brazil | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17. | Norway | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18. | Ireland | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 19. | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 20. | Czechia | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 21. | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 |
In 2022, the first-ever Standard Distance Aquabike World Championships took place in Abu Dhabi. Two years later, aquabike racing made its local debut in the UAE with the Oceanic Khorfakkan Aquabike Series. The first of two events in this series was held on October 26th in Khawr Fakkan, offering aquabike races over three distances – from supersprint to Olympic distance. This marked a significant milestone for aquabike in the region, expanding the sport’s footprint in the Middle East.
A week later, history was made in the Caribbean with the first-ever aquabike race in the Bahamas. Although the Bahamas Triathlon Association had previously included an aquabike option in their national championship event in April, no athletes had signed up. This changed on November 2nd when the Conchman Triathlon hosted an aquabike race, making it the first event of its kind in the island nation to actually take place.
Later that month the national aquabike championships in Brazil were planned to be part of the multisport national championships event in Brasilia. Unfortunately, I was neither able to find any results of that race, nor any kind of message or notification that it was cancelled. So I’m really not sure, if this event actually took place. If you know more, please drop me a message.
There was one more premier event this year on the Arabic peninsula. On November 23rd there was a swim-bike competition at the Al Azaiba Classic Triathlon, which was the first ever aquabike race as of our records in Oman.
That concludes our summary of the biggest and most notable aquabike races of 2024. The sport has continued its remarkable growth, with new national championships, first-time races in several countries, and record-breaking participation numbers at key events.
However, there is certainly still room for improvement. From underwhelming participation in some national championships to organizational issues at major events like the World Championships in Torremolinos, these challenges highlight areas for further development.
Looking ahead, there are plenty of reasons for optimism. The increasing number of young athletes joining the sport and the growing international diversity of competitors reflect a bright future for aquabike racing. With exciting events already planned for 2025, there’s much to look forward to.
Stay tuned for the second part of our 2024 season review, where we’ll dive into intriguing facts and figures from this landmark year in aquabike history.