We Noticed: Roth Field Heats Up, IRONMAN Broadcast Schedule and More

“This is the best professional field in Roth’s history,” says Challenge Roth race director Felix Walchshöfer, and while that’s saying a lot, it’s not hard to agree. “This line-up is extraordinary. We have Olympic champions, world champions, European champions, Roth champions, bold debutants, and athletes known for spectacular races. That’s exactly what Roth stands for.”

At a time when Roth appears determined to continue as the “Switzerland” of the triathlon world, running as an independent event that remains a separate entity from the recent PTO/ Challenge Family merger, putting together a truly stacked field ensures the event remains arguably the biggest long-distance triathlon event that doesn’t take place on the Big Island of Hawaii.

We wrote about a number of the big names that had signed up for Roth last week, but this week the fields got considerably more interesting, especially with the addition of the two defending champions, Germany’s Laura Philipp and France’s Sam Laidlow. That sets up a dramatic duel between Philipp and Brit Kat Matthews, who posted 8:03:13 and 8:05:13 in Hamburg last year, the fastest women’s times ever recorded at an IRONMAN event. After that race last year Philipp downplayed talk of a potential sub-eight hour finish in Roth, but that’s going to be a real challenge for both her and Matthews at this year’s race.

There will be lots of talk of a new world-best time on the men’s side, too. That would have come with Blummenfelt in the race anyway, but now that you add Laidlow to the mix, that will no-doubt be the dominant buzz heading into this year’s race.

“World-best” times are always a challenge to define in our sport since courses are rarely certified as rigorously as, say, marathon courses are. That isn’t the only issue that can make defining a “world best” difficult – IRONMAN recognizes Blummenfelt’s 7:21:12 time from Cozumel as the fastest time ever, despite the down-current swim that saw the Norwegian post a 39-minute swim. Dane Magnus Ditlev holds the Roth course record of 7:23:24. (We’ll leave it up to you as to which you’d like to call the “world best.”) On the women’s side Anne Haug’s 8:02:38 winning time from Roth in 2024 is generally considered the “world best,” with Philipp close behind with her 8:03:13 from Hamburg last year.

Laidlow wasn’t the only big-name addition to the men’s field – 2021 champ Patrick Lange will be on hand, as will last year’s runner-up in Roth, fellow German Jonas Schomburg.

The large pro field on hand for Roth will be vying for €160,000 in prize money. Here’s the full list of pros registered for this year’s race:

Laura Philipp
Sam Laidlow
Kristian Blummenfelt
Patrick Lange
Kat Matthews
Jonas Schomburg
Alanis Siffert
Frederic Funk
Rico Bogen
Kristian Høgenhaug
Caroline Pohle
Arthur Horseau
Fenella Langridge
Daisy Davies
Will Draper
Menno Koolhaas
Denis Chevrot
Ben Hoffman

Ben Akin
Michael Boult
Milan Brons
Nicholas Chase
Patrick Cometta
Dieter Comhair
Zack Cooper
Lewis Eccleston
Pascal Franken
Jan Höing
Frederik Holm Wester
Nils Lorenz
Giel Meesen
Hao Miao
Sam Musgrove
Tristan Olij
Matthias Schindler
Morten Schmidt
Olaf van den Bergh
Jesse Van Hulst
Johannes Vogel
Cameron Wilson

Maja Betz
Jasmine Brown
Jeanne Collonge
Lisa-Maria Dornauer
Chloe Hartnett
Denise Hiemann
Carolina Laurentiu Granja
Steffie Le Benezic
Gabrielle Lumkes
Fiona Moriarty
Anna Pabinger
Katie Remond
Chloe Sparrow
Morena Stevens
Rosie Wild
Ewelina Wolos

IRONMAN Confirms Broadcast Schedule

The big news for IRONMAN fans in North America is that the live broadcast of all the IRONMAN Pro Series races will be available on YouTube (in year’s past North Americans had to watch on Outside+). A 45-minute highlight show will appear on Outside+ for American and Canadian viewers.

The IRONMAN Pro Series includes six IRONMAN and eight IRONMAN 70.3 races, along with the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships. Here’s the full schedule:

Here’s the list of Broadcast partners:

Quick Notes:

Some older news that I’ll include in case you missed it:

• Lucy Charles-Barclay bounced back just a month after the removal of her plantaris tendon with an impressive 1,500 m swim – she won the Essex County Championships at the London Aquatic Centre in a time of 17:29:40. (In 2021 she finished second at the British Olympic Swim Trials over the same distance in a time of 16:46:26.)
• Really sad news from here in Canada last month – Sandra Bowden passed away from complications due to dementia. I coached Sandra and her daughter Lori (two-time Kona champ) for over a decade, and have fond memories of my time spent with them. The pair were amongst the most thoughtful and caring people I have ever spent time with. Along with her husband Don, the three Bowdens were mainstays in the Canadian triathlon community for decades and, in many ways, were part of a pioneering generation that helped and inspired so many. Our thoughts are with the Bowden family for their loss.
• Wasn’t expecting this one – this weekend’s IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand race features the highest percentage of women’s participants ever at an IRONMAN event at 43%.

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