19:34
Knibb sets off straight away
Taylor Knibb definitely had no desire to move Chelsea Sodaro forward. The American has already broken away from her swimming companions and is now alone behind Charles-Barclay. Your distance after 7.4 km is 1:25 minutes. Sodaro is 2:34 minutes behind Charles-Barclay.
19:28
The times when swimming
1. Lucy Charles Barclay: 00:49:29
2. Haley Chura: 00:50:59
3. H.Lawrence: 00:51:00
4. Taylor Knibb: 00:51:03
5. Rebecca Clarke: 00:51:05
6. Martha Sanchez: 00:51:06
7. Lotte Wilms: 00:51:12
8. Chelsea Sodaro: 00:51:12
9. Stephanie Clutterbuck: 00:51:36
10. Julie Iemmolo: 00:51:39
19. Kat Matthews: 00:55:46
26. Laura Philipp: 00:55:54
19:26
First assessment after swimming
Let’s take stock after swimming. Charles-Barclay was as strong as expected, but doesn’t have a huge lead over the strong cyclist Knibb and especially Sodaro, who swam really well. Can Sodaro stick with Knibb and catch up with Charles-Barclay? For Laura Philipp the swimming was okay, the distance is within the expected range, but above all she is in the cycling group with Matthews and that is a good sign. Things continue to look good – for Philipp and for an exciting race.
19:22
Second chasing group comes in
Now the next chasing group comes in. The gap here is just over six minutes. There are Matthews, Philipp and Lovseth as well as Perterer.
19:17
Knibb and Sodaro in the chasing group
The two Americans Knibb and Sodaro are in the first chasing group. Sodaro in particular swam really well here because she is a super good runner.
7:15 p.m
Chase group is coming
The chasing group has caught up well and is already out of the water. The gap is around 1:30 minutes.
7:15 p.m
No swimming record for Charles-Barclay
The Brit really did a strong swim here in decent waves, but it won’t be a new swimming record. It was 48:14. Today Charley-Barclay completed the distance in 49:29 minutes.
19:12
Charles-Barclay shortly before the end of the swim
The first discipline is almost over. Lucy Charles-Barclay only has a few meters left to swim. Then we’re curious to see how big the gap really is and whether the Brit hasn’t exhausted herself too much here.
7:04 p.m
The chasing group splits
A smaller group has now broken away from the pursuers and increased the pace. At the moment we can only estimate, but the gap ahead is likely to have narrowed.
6:59 p.m
Waves are increasing
The Pacific becomes rougher on the way back. This makes it more strenuous for everyone, which is more suitable for strong swimmers.
6:55 p.m
Intermediate result after around 26 minutes
Half of the swim is just over and Charles-Barclay continues to lead by a large margin over a larger chasing group. It is led by the Austrian Lisa Perterer. Also in the large group: Knibb, Philipp, Matthews and Loevseth. The interval is approximately three minutes.
6:48 p.m
Lucy Charles-Barclay gets off to a strong start
That was to be expected. Lucy Charles-Barclay emphasizes that she is the best swimmer. The 32-year-old is also good on the bike; her weakest discipline is running. But that is criticism at a high level for the top athlete. In 2023, the British woman won the World Cup in Kona. Charles-Barclay has already celebrated successes this year. She won the T100 triathlon in Spain in September, the London T100 in August and the 70.3 Eagleman in Cambridge in June.
6:45 p.m
Charles-Barclay with crazy speed
Charles-Barclay’s performance so far has been less good for top favorite Philipp. The Brit is really incredibly fast and should come out of the water with a decent lead. But from a German perspective, the day is still very long.
18:41
Still confusing when swimming
It’s like every Ironman: When swimming it’s really hard to get an overview, but that will be easier later with the time mats. It’s clear that Charles-Barclay is clearly ahead, with Taylor Knibb leading a group behind him. Matthews and Philipp are in the same group, which is a good sign for the Germans.
18:41
Who is who in the water?
The athletes are difficult to recognize in the water. As a little help: Laura Philipp wants to defend her title with the golden swimming cap. Strong swimmers Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb both swim with a green cap. Kat Matthews swims in a blue swim cap, Chelsea Sodaro swims in a purple swim cap.
6:37 p.m
Eight more German professional women
In addition to Laura Philipp, there are eight other German professional women at the start, but they will have nothing to do with victory or the podium. Anne Reischmann is hoping for a top ten place, the rest are hoping for a good race. Of course, we will still inform you regularly about times and placements.
6:30 p.m
Charles-Barclay gets started straight away
And it started exactly as expected: Lucy Charles-Barclay immediately opened up a big gap and is leading the field. This is a declaration of war from the British.
18:29
This is how swimming could go
Now that the athletes are in the water, let’s take a quick look at the expected developments in swimming. Essential here are the numbers, data and projections from our statistics guru Thorsten Radde, who would like to say hello here. So what do we expect: Charles-Barclay, the strongest swimmer, will try to gain some distance here. Taylor Knibb of the favorites may still be able to keep up, other good swimmers include Holly Lawrence, Rebecca Clarke, Haley Chura, Lotte Wilms and Marta Sanchez. Laura Philipp could easily lose five to six minutes here.
6:25 p.m
Starting signal
The race is on!
18:24
Strong US athletes
The two Americans Taylor Knibb and Chelsea Sodaro should also be on the list. Knibb is the best cyclist, Sodaro won in Hawaii in 2022. After the Norwegian dominance among the men, we also have Solveig Loevseth on the list. After the triple victory in Nice, no one will underestimate the Scandinavians anymore.
18:22
Matthews and Charles-Barclay as the toughest competitors
The biggest competitors are the two Brits Lucy Charles-Barclay and Kat Matthews. Charles-Barclay in particular will set the pace right from the start, as she needs a lead of around ten minutes before the marathon to have a good chance of winning. Matthews, on the other hand, is almost as strong as Philipp on the running route, and both recently had thrilling running duels in Nice (2024) and Hamburg (2025) – each with the better end for the German.
6:19 p.m
These are the favorites
But now enough about the background and let’s get into the race: We expect an exciting duel with some candidates for victory, but the top favorite is the 2024 world champion, Laura Philipp. The 38-year-old from Heidelberg went one better this year and won the three races in which she took part. Philipp won’t be able to compete with the best in swimming, but that shouldn’t worry anyone. The defending champion is really strong when it comes to cycling and especially when running.
6:16 p.m
Last time only the women in Hawaii
In addition to the planned 60 professional women, around 1,600 age groupers will also take to the track. The men’s World Cup took place in Nice almost a month ago. Starting next year, men and women will compete together again in Hawaii.
6:10 p.m
Difficult conditions
The professional women will start the race at 6:25 p.m. and like every year in Hawaii, it will be a special challenge. It starts with the distance alone: 3.86 kilometers of swimming in the rough Pacific, 180 kilometers of cycling through the lava desert and then another relaxed marathon in the expected heat await the starters.
6:04 p.m
The whole race in the live stream
Over the next nine hours we will accompany you at the most important triathlon event of the year. Of course, the whole race is not only available in the ticker, but also in the stream at Sportschau.de and in the ARD media library. There will also be live segments on hr- Fernsehen and Erste. Dirk Froberg and former world champion Sebastian Kienle will inform you there.
6:00 p.m
Hello to the Women’s Ironman World Championships!
Hello and welcome to the live ticker of the Women’s Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.