Research what age triathletes peak, and you’re likely to find men peak at around 26-27 and women 27-30 for Olympic distance, and both around 35 for Ironman. At many age-group triathlons, similar trends are seen with the winners often coming from these age categories.
But is aquabike the same? In theory, aquabikers should peak around the same time as triathletes, but in practice, is this what we’re seeing in age group aquabike racing?
The younger age categories don’t tend to be as full in aquabike racing as triathlon. But as the sport grows, is this changing? And are the younger athletes switching to swim-bike-done beating the more experienced, older athletes?
Let’s get into it.
The inspiration for this article …
The idea for this article originated when looking through race results from the start of this year. At Challenge Wanaka, New Zealand in February, the first two athletes in the men’s race – Guy YARRELL and Hunter GOUGH – were in the 18-24 age category, and third place – Cathal GUINEY – aged 25-29. This is highly unusual for aquabike racing, as we’re used to seeing older athletes top the podium. Is this a sign of things to come?
At the same race in 2025, the winner – Robert HUISMAN – was in the 30-34 age category, with the other athletes of the podium – Michael GLYNN and Frank ERK – in the 55-59 age category. Interestingly, the times on the podium in both years were practically identical.
In the female races, athletes on the podium in both years (2026, Arna CRAIG, Jen HODGSON, Caroline HARMSWORTH, and 2025, Arna CRAIG , Emma WAITE , Bonnie DAVIS ) were in the 30-44 years range, fairly typical for an endurance sport event.
Ironman 70.3 Geelong
Ironman 70.3 Geelong was the first Ironman event to offer an aquabike option in Australia. Ironman, undoubtedly, has really taken off amongst the younger age groups. Participation in Ironman events by under 30s grew by 35% in 2025, and first-time participants under 30 has more than doubled since 2019.
Ironman 70.3 Geelong took place at the end of March, and the winner in the men’s race, Ben MORGAN, raced in the 18-24 age category. Second place Simon BROWN in 35-39, and third place Mitchell NASSER in 30-34. Youngster Ben MORGAN finished 2nd at the same event in 2025, behind Hayden ARMSTRONG, 45-49. Flick back to Ironman 70.3 Geelong 2022, and the winner was Gerard DONNELLY, 60-64, followed by Adam TOUZELL and Grant HORNSBY, both in the 40-44 age category. The trend here certainly looks to be towards a younger podium.
In the women’s event, the age demographic remains more consistent with athletes on the podium typically falling in the 30 to 59 years range each year. Fiona SOUDEN won the event in 2026 and 2025, racing in the 50-59 category both times.
A Look at World Championship Results
Over the past three years, winners in the men’s standard world championship race have come from the 35-39, 30-34 and 20-24 age categories. In 2025, there were 2 athletes above 50 in the top ten, 1 in 2024 and 4 in 2023.
In the female race, winners have come from the 25-29 and 20-24 age groups, and in each year, there was only one athlete over 50 in the top 10.
Looking at the world long distance championships, winners in the men’s race have been in the 30-34, 20-24 and 45-49 age categories over the past three years. In 2025 and 2024, 3 of the top 10 were over 50, and 4 in 2023.
In the female world long distance championships, the winners have come from the 45-49, 40-44 and 35-39 age categories, with one over 50 in the top ten each year. Despite the number of over 50s in the top ten mirroring the standard championships, the average age of finishers in the top ten was considerably higher in the women’s race for the long-distance championships compared to the standard distance championships.
Rankings
The obvious place to look to get to the bottom of this is the Aquabike.World men’s and women’s rankings.
Looking at the men’s rankings for the last 12 months, leader Neil SEMMEL , 60-64 , had an incredible 2025 season with some record breaking racing. All of the top ten ranked men are above 30, with 6 above 50.
It’s a similar picture in the women’s race, with leader Kerry HICKSON competing in the 45-49 age category. Again, all of the top ten ranked women are above 30, and 7 are above 50.
Aquabike.World rankings depend on …
- the ranking position in the race
- the time gap to the winner of the race
- the number of finishers
- the race distance
- the difficulty level of the race
- additional multipliers for National, European and World Championships
This potentially benefits athletes who are able to compete well at a greater variety of races. Athletes in higher age categories may, generally speaking, have more time and disposable income than athletes in lower age categories, which could potentially explain the difference between the ranking trends and major championship results.
And how about when we look at the Competition Score?
To look at the level of competition within a race, we turn to the Competition Score (CS).
You can read more about the Competition Score here, but it basically summarises the strength of a field within a particular group, and can be used to compare different races. It’s value is between 0 and 100, with 100 being an event in which the top ten ranked aquabikers (for a given category) raced and gave their usual performance.
The most competitive race of 2025 for men was the Belgian Aquabike Championships, which had an impressive CS of 98. The top 5 athletes at this event were aged 24 or under, with 8 of the top 10 aged 24 or under. The two other athletes in the top ten were over 40. The picture at the second most competitive race for men in 2025 – the Aquabike Standard Distance World Championships Wollongong, with a CS of 95.1 – was slightly different. The youngest man in the top 10 was aged 39, and the top ten were all aged between 39 and 54.
Looking at the comparative stats for the women, the results are very similar. Again, the most competitive race based on CS was the Belgian Aqaubike Championships with a CS of 95. 8 of the top 10 are aged 30 and under, with the two other athletes in the top ten aged over 40. The second most competitive race for the women was the British Aquabike Championships with a CS of 94.5. Here, the ages of the top ten finishers were much more varied, with 4 athletes under 30, 4 over 40, and the rest somewhere in between.
Looking at Competition Score suggests that although the youngsters probably do have a slight edge, there might actually not be that much in it at all.
In conclusion …
In endurance sport, it is common for athletes to peak around their early thirties. Obviously, this isn’t the case for everyone, especially not for athletes starting the sport later in life. Results from major championships support this, as many podium finishing athletes are around this age.
However …
As aquabike grows, it is becoming increasingly popular with younger athletes in their late teens and twenties. In more recent races, we have seen more young athletes competing and finishing on the podium. So, don’t be surprised if this trend continues.
But also …
Athletes in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond are definitely not strangers to podium finishes at major championships, including those with very competitive fields. Potentially with greater experience, time to train and race, and disposable income to dedicate to aquabike, athletes in these age groups often perform more consistently throughout a season. This is exemplified by how the majority of high-ranking athletes in the Aquabike.World rankings are in these age groups.
And finally …
There’s no one size fits all, and for most of us, it is very much feasible that the best is yet to come.