So the first ever Standard Distance Aquabike World Championships are done and dusted. Despite the exotic location and the date long after the end of the racing season for most athletes in the northern hemisphere almost 200 aquabike athletes started the race in Abu Dhabi. Many of the top ranked aquabikers might have been absent, but it still was certainly a well worthy World Championship race. The top 20 finishers came from 14 different countries, showing that this multisport discipline is not only attracting athletes in the two “home countries” of aquabike racing. There was only one athlete from both, the United States and Great Britain, in the top 20 of the men’s race.
But the conditions certainly where not easy especially from athletes who travelled from the cold northern November to the heat of Abu Dhabi. Looking at the results it really seems like athletes from the southern hemisphere had to struggle less with the warm conditions. The only country who had three athletes in the top 20 in the end was… was Brazil! Parabéns!
Fastest swimmer in the men’s race it was Bruce CAMPBELL from South. The first ever long distance aquabike world champion Stephen SHELDRAKE from New Zealand who won the title in Penticton, Canada in 2017 came out of the water 17 seconds later, closely followed by Irishman Nigel FANNING and Thomas WINKELMANN from Germany. With a gap of over a minute behind those four athletes and a fast a flat bike course it seemed likely that the winner of the race would be one of them. After a fast transition it was Nigel Fanning who was the first starting the bike leg. Bruce Campbell followed only four seconds later and also the two others were still only a few more seconds behind. But Nigel left no doubt about who is the strongest cyclist. From the very beginning of the bike leg he increased his lead second by second. After one hour 19 minutes and one second he crossed the finishline, becoming the first ever Standard Distance World Champion. Bruce Campbell came in second, 01:21 minutes behind. The race for the last remaining place on the podium was pretty close. Stephen and Thomas stayed together for most of the bike leg. It wasn´t until the last few kilometers of the race when Stephen managed to get away, taking third place overall 02:24 minutes behind the winner, while Thomas had to settle for fourth place about 30 seconds behind.
Amy PRITCHARD was the big favorite in the women´s race. She wasn´t the first woman to come out of the water though. At the European Championships in Bilbao in September Dominika JOSEFOVA from Czechia came out of the water 24 seconds behind Amy. But in Abu Dhabi she was the faster swimmer. After putting 22 seconds into Amy in the swim, she even increased hear lead with a fast transition. And it was another British girls who came out of T1 in second place. Felicity LAWLESS finished the swim together with Amy but was the faster through transition. She started the bike leg 59 seconds behind Dominika, while Amy had a gap of 01:21 minutes to the leading Czech athlete. But as soon as she was on the bike Amy left no doubt about who´s the strongest cyclist. She passed Falicity on the first kilometers of the bike course, and closed the gap to Dominika after only seven kilometers. She was a class on her own on the bike that day, with no other female athlete having any chance to keep up with her. On the finishline four minutes and 42 seconds separated her from Dominika who manage to hold on for second place. Elke SCHOENHARDT from Germany came in third. After coming out of the water in 13th place she showed a strong performance on the bike to complete the podium.
» click here to see the full results
We usually only report about the overall results of a race. But in Abu Dhabi there was a fight for the podium spots in an age group that should not remain unmentioned. While Jean MARAIS took a clear win the men´s agegroup 65-69, the fight for the other spots on the podium was pretty close. Robert SMARTT finished the bike course in second place. James AUST came in 25 seconds later, but passed Robert in the transition to take the silver medal. But Robert managed to hold on for third place by 28 seconds ahead of Keith MUGGLETON. So why is that big news? Because after winning his fourth title in Samorin in August and now taking the bronze medal in Abu Dhabi Robert SMARTT is now the only athlete who managed to win a medal in all six World Championships races in the history of aquabike racing. Congratulations, what an achievement!
The most successful woman at Aquabike World Championships is not a big surprise though. Amy PRITCHARD is now one of two women to win four Aquabike World Championship titles in her age group. The second one is Maria POWELL who won her fourth gold medal at this year´s long distance championships in Samorin in August.
To see the most successfull aquabike athletes in championship races you can check out our Aquabike Championships Medal Tables.
So that was the first ever Standard Distance Aquabike World Championship. Congratulations to all finishers! It´s great to see how international our sport became. While the women´s race was still dominated by the two big aquabike nations USA and GB, who took 24 of the 38 medals in the women´s award ceremony, the picture was quite different in the men’s competition. The United States still won the most podiums – together with Australia. Each of them bringing home 6 medals. There was no British athlete taking the title in any of the men´s age group. With three Silver and one Bronze medal they collected the same number of medals as Brazil. Athletes from no less than 18 countries stepped up the podium of the first ever Standard Distance Aquabike World Championships!
| Rank | Country |  |  |  |
| 1. | United States of America | 12 | 9 | 10 |
| 2. | United Kingdom | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| 3. | Germany | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 4. | Australia | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 5. | New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 6. | South Africa | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7. | Brazil | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8. | Egypt | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 9. | Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10. | Ireland | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11. | Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12. | Czechia | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13. | France | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14. | Spain | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 15. | Poland | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 16. | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17. | Slovakia | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 18. | United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The second edition will be next year in September in Pontevedra, Spain, and will certainly attract way more athletes from the northern hemisphere, especially from Europe. Really looking forward to this one already. Time to get prepared 🙂