Kona 2026: Zone3 Athletes at the Ironman World Champs

The cannon goes at first light on 10 October, and for the first time in seven years the professional men and women hear the same one. Kona has spent three seasons sharing the world championship with Nice. This year it gets the whole thing back.

The water in Kailua Bay will sit somewhere near 27 degrees. Warm enough that nobody is wearing neoprene, and warm enough that the swim stops being the part of the day you get through on buoyancy alone.

Four Zone3 athletes will be in it. The reigning world champion will not.

7:32:03 at Ironman Texas this year. No British athlete has gone faster over the distance, and the Kona slot came with it.

Kieran Lindars has raced this island already, eighth in 2024, so he knows what the return leg of the Queen K takes out of a marathon that has not started yet. He coaches out of Aylesbury between his own sessions, which means he spends a fair part of his week telling other people how to pace exactly this kind of day. Doing it yourself, with a world championship on the line, is a different skill.

Q: What does a Kona build look like that a Frankfurt or a Texas build does not?

A: "The main difference between Frankfurt and Texas are that these two races are more stepping stones towards Kona. Obviously wanting to get a good result, but want to be 'peaking' for Kona and there's nothing after Kona, so everything is focused towards getting the best result on the day.

Whereas the other two, as they are stepping stones, there's a lot more tapering and the tapering is a lot more aggressive and getting the body in position to peak for that day, we're less worried about how long it will take to recover so a bit more extreme in terms of the build in training, and sometimes that means risking pushing the body further than normal, purely because want to get to the day fit and then a big period of rest in the winter."

Q: You cannot get Hawaiian heat and humidity at home. What do the last few weeks before race day actually involve?

A: "I go into my home made heat chamber at home, basic plastic greenhouse that I then heat up, It's a really great way of simulating the external effects and another good way is to simply wear a lot of layers. The way I track all of this by using a core body temperature sensor, so this gives me a good and safe way of monitoring the body and how it is coping to the heat and then making sure that not only am I pushing my body enough, but more importantly not pushing it too far."

Q: You came 8th in 2024, what has changed since then in terms of your racing experience that will benefit you this year?

"I'd say one of the biggest changes between 2024 and this year is the support that I've had.A lot of the partners I'm working with have built me custom equipment, with so much effort into making sure that everything that I'm using and wearing is dialled to give me the best opportunity for going after those top spots.

The last thing that I think is most important, the first time you do a race, there's perhaps a bit of naivety, which can be useful, but in my case now I know how hard the finish is, so I know what it will take and how to try to get my body into that best position. So hopefully it will mean that I have a bit more experience and am able to trust my judgement a little bit more, compared to the first time I race Kona where I was almost taking a risk with everything that I did."

Marta Sánchez led the entire field out of the water at Nice in 2024. Not the women’s field. The field.

Years of elite synchronised swimming will do that for a stroke. What has changed since is everything after the swim: third at Texas this year in 8:31:06, a new Spanish record, off a marathon under three hours. She arrives in Kona with a run that matches the swim, which is a harder thing to build than it sounds.

Q: The swim is a non-wetsuit, deep-water mass start. What changes in how you position yourself and how hard you go in the first four hundred metres?

A: "For the first few hundred meters, I try not to think about the fact that there's still a full Ironman ahead! I'll focus on getting off the start hard and into a good position with the front group, then settle into the rhythm and manage my effort from there. From last year, I remember the pace stayed high throughout, so there's really no time to switch off - it's the World Championships, after all!"

Q: The return leg is swum into the sunrise. How do you handle that, and does it change what you put on your face?

A: "I'll be wearing the Attack photochromatic goggles. They're perfect for these conditions. Good visibility at the start when it's darker and then they adapt and the lens changes colour as we turn back into the sun."

Katrine opened the year by winning Challenge Sir Bani Yas in January. Behind that sit Danish Triathlete of the Year for 2025, wins at Ironman Sweden and 70.3 Kraków, and years on the Danish national team as a sprint kayaker before triathlon had her at all.

She is a civil engineer and a mother alongside the racing. Zone3 published her race-day preparation routine in July, and the striking thing about it is how unglamorous it is. Bags packed in the same order every time. Breakfast decided days out. Nothing left to the morning, because the morning has enough to do.

She was 11th here last year. Eleventh at a world championship is a serious day’s work, and more useful than the number itself, it means she has already found out what this island does to the back half of a marathon. She comes back knowing the course rather than guessing at it.

Q: With a great result of 11th here last year, what are you deliberately doing the same, and what are you changing for race day?

A: "I had a good experience last year. I was going into the race very conservative on the pacing from the start to finish, playing it very safe.

This year I'm coming into the race with a lot more confidence in my pacing strategy and ability to handle the heat. The shape is good and I strongly believe I can push a bit harder this year without cooking myself. Still Kona is a tricky place to nail an IRONMAN, so my plan is to stay patient and believe in my own pacing."

Q: Hawi and the descent back down. Where does that section usually unravel for people, and what is your plan for it?

A: "This section is tough! It's easy to get too excited riding up Hawi pushing a little too hard, but it has a price. My plan is to stay as consistent in my power output up to Hawi as possible - pushing hard, but still be holding back. Trying not to make the HR or core temperature spike. The descent is all about staying aero, getting as much free speed as possible. When you hit the bottom of descent the heat really kicks in, so saving as much energy as possible and trying to cool down on the way down will be a big priority."

Rebecca Anderbury did not finish in Kona last year. That is the short version, and it is the one worth starting with, because a world championship that ends early is not a small thing to carry into the next one.

This set the goal for the season that followed. Two things, in order: qualify again, and finish.

The first is done.

This year has seen multiple top 10 finishes, before that came 70.3 Poznań, her first professional win, in 2025. Further back again, a Long Distance world title in the age-group ranks, the professional licence that followed it in 2023, and this island, raced then with a different number on.

She has spent a season getting back to the same pier, and the goal she set has a second half to it.

Q: You have been here before. What do you know about this course now that you did not the first time?

A: "Everyone talks about Kona being a brutal course but I don’t think anything prepares you for that until you’ve experienced it. There was definitely a bit of naivety when I first came here in 2022 as an age grouper, even after coming as a spectator for my husband before that! It’s more ‘what do I know about how I respond to the island conditions’ rather than what I know about the course. Understanding your strengths and, more importantly, your weaknesses on a course like this is the real key to surviving it."

"One thing that people often overlook is how tough the course profile is without the elements thrown into it. The sea is usually a bit choppy, the bike course is undulating at best and hilly at worst, and the run is hilly. Even in a regular Ironman they’d make for a tough course. With the heat and humidity, it makes for a brutal day out. I have a great deal more respect for the island now, and a huge amount of admiration for anyone who can finish this race."

Casper Stornes will not be on the start line in Kona. He holds the world title until Saturday, and he is not racing to keep it.

What he did to win it stands. Nice, 2025, his first attempt at the distance, a Norwegian one-two-three behind him and a course record of 7:51:36. The marathon was 2:29:25, the first time anyone has run under two and a half hours at an Ironman World Championship. He was third at Ironman Texas in May.

A title changes hands on Saturday whatever happens. It just changes hands without him in the race.

Kona is a warm-water race, so the swim is raced without neoprene. The sun comes up behind the pier, which means the leg back to shore is swum into low glare off the water. After that comes eight hours and more of heat and humidity, on a course with almost no shade on it.

Three kit decisions follow from that: what you swim in when a wetsuit is not an option, what you look through on the way back to the pier, and what you are still comfortable in five hours later.

All Zone3 athletes are racing in the Streamline Sleeveless Swimskin - a must for warm-weather racing. 

When is the 2026 Ironman World Championship?

Saturday 10 October 2026, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The professional men and women race on the same day for the first time since 2019.

Can you wear a wetsuit in Kona?

No. Kailua Bay sits well above the temperature at which a wetsuit is permitted for anyone racing for a podium place or a qualifying slot, so the world championship swim is raced in a swimskin or a trisuit.

Which Zone3 athletes are racing Kona in 2026?

Kieran Lindars, Marta Sánchez, Katrine Græsbøll Christensen and Rebecca Anderbury. 

Is Casper Stornes defending his Ironman world title?

No. Stornes is the reigning Ironman World Champion, having won in Nice in 2025, and due to injury, he is not racing in Kona on 10 October 2026.

How do you qualify for Kona?

Through an age-group slot or a performance pool slot at a qualifying Ironman race. The system changed for the 2026 season, with the performance pool now split by gender.