Sam Long and Grace Alexander Win Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast After “Overnight Swells” Trigger Shortened Swim

It will not be the primary time this season a 70.3 swim has been altered, following the shortened swim at Ironman 70.3 Dallas at first of the season. In final 12 months’s version of this race, the swim was canceled fully for age-group athletes due to extreme climate.

The Dallas choice sparked debate amongst professionals, a lot of whom argued that professionals ought to have the chance to finish the complete course beneath a distinct normal from age-group athletes to protect the integrity of the race. That dialog could solely develop louder if shortened swims proceed turning into extra widespread.

Nevertheless, the lads’s race rapidly become an all-out dash from the water, with swim instances dipping beneath 10 minutes. Greg Harper (USA) led the sphere out in 7:10, whereas 2023 champion Long – who reported he made the journey on the final minute – exited 1:22 behind 18 different athletes, together with robust names like Marc Dubrick (USA) and Olympian Seth Rider (USA).

Over the following 30 miles, Long methodically overtook all the group forward of him to maneuver into the lead. Initially, solely Rider and Benjamin Zorgnotti (PPT) have been ready to stick with him earlier than he ultimately opened a 20-second benefit heading into T2.

Keeping in thoughts the impact of the shortened swim, Long’s bike cut up of 1:49:32 was nonetheless outstanding – the primary sub-1:50 bike cut up ever recorded in an Ironman 70.3, averaging 30.25 mph throughout the flat course.

From there, Long maintained a gradual 20 to 30-second hole over Rider all through the run whereas Dubrick moved into third. A 1:10:38 half-marathon sealed the victory for the defending champion as Long celebrated with a becoming sprinkler dance within the rain. He now plans to race once more subsequent weekend at 70.3 Chattanooga. Rider completed second, with Dubrick rounding out the rostrum.

2026 Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast males’s outcomes:

In the ladies’s race, Lopes unsurprisingly led the swim recent off competing in a WTCS occasion in Samarkand simply weeks earlier, with Alexander shut behind. Both athletes possible would have benefited from an extended swim, however they nonetheless opened a niche of 30 seconds to 2 minutes over the rest of the sphere, together with high seed Danielle Lewis (USA), who exited 1:35 again.

Lewis, like Long, rapidly moved by way of the sphere and into third inside the opening 10 miles of the bike. By the 40-mile mark, she had accomplished the catch and moved into the lead, with solely Alexander ready to stick with her as Lopes misplaced important time earlier than T2.

Given her completed run background, Lewis appeared well-positioned for the win. However, she was nonetheless recovering from a tough crash at Ironman Texas three weeks earlier, when a nail punctured her tire. Lewis shared earlier than the race that she “wasn’t totally sure if [she’d] race” whereas ready for her accidents to heal and shared she had solely returned to the time trial place just a few days earlier than the occasion.

Even so, the run initially unfolded completely for Lewis as she prolonged her lead by one other 45 seconds over Alexander early on. But across the 5K mark, momentum shifted. Alexander reeled her in earlier than the five-mile mark, whereas Lopes had already slashed her deficit from practically 4 minutes down to only over two, organising a dramatic end.

In the top, Alexander ran simply quick sufficient to carry off a charging Lopes by 20 seconds after Lopes overtook Lewis late within the race. Six years after profitable the beginner title on the identical occasion, the victory marked Alexander’s third profession Ironman 70.3 win.

She now heads to Chattanooga trying to defend her title in opposition to a considerably deeper area anticipated to incorporate the likes of Jackie Hering (USA) and Paula Findlay (CAN).

2026 Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast ladies’s outcomes: