Last weekend Spain’s half-distance classic from Lerate’s Alloz Reservoir into the heart of Pamplona hosted the European Aquabike Championships. A 1.9 km swim in crystal-clear lake water was followed by a challenging 85 km point-to-point bike course.
Since September 2023 we did not have a change of the leaders, neither in the Men’s, nor in the Women’s Aquabike.World ranking. Frank Erk and Monika Lukens also both took the lead in the all time ranking during this period, which is the ranking including all results since January 1st 2021.
For as much as 588 days Monika Lukens was leading the Women’s Ranking. Since taking the lead on September 27th, 2023, she competed in no less than 20 aquabike races, taking quite a few wins and a silver and a bronze medal in the US aquabike nationals in the process.
The sevenths edition of the European Aquabike Championships will take place in Pamplona this Saturday. Well, actually the race will start about 40 km outside the Capital of the Navarra region in northern Spain. For the first time we will have a point-to-point race in an international aquabike championship. 281 athletes have signed up for the aquabike race – if all of them will be competing, this will be the biggest European Aquabike Championship yet. A title currently held by Pamplona’s neighbour city Bilbao, where 268 athletes started the race in 2022.
I usually don’t write race previews for national championships, but this time I’ll make an exception, since it’s the race many of you have been waiting years to see – and because our friends from Age Group News aksed for it ;). So here’s a look at the inaugural British National Aquabike Championships, coming up this Sunday hosted by the Burghley Multisport Weekend.
Although the weekend also features a 100 km middle‑distance event with an aquabike option (2 km swim, 80 km bike), the championship title will be decided over the standard distance: a 1.5 km swim followed by a 40 km ride.
A first glance at the start list left me a little surprised. With 112 athletes entered, the debut championships won’t be the largest aquabike race ever held in the UK; in fact, it doesn’t even make the podium in that category. The top three spots still belong to the trio of standard‑distance World Championship 2024 qualifiers in Torremolinos – a race that, unfortunately, shares one unwelcome trait with these first British Championships. But before we get to that, let’s take a closer look at the course.
Whether you’re a seasoned racer or gearing up for your first swim-bike event, this new feature is designed to help you relive and analyse your race like never before. I’m absolutely thrilled to share how these personal race reports will give you deeper insight into your performance – in a fun, interactive way. So, what’s it all about? Let’s dive in!
Elite Energy, the organizer of the 2025 World Triathlon Championship Finals, which also hosts the Standard Distance Aquabike World Championship, has released some intriguing details about the racecourse and event schedule.
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.
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.
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.
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.