This race is as historic as it is prestigious and has seen many of the greatest in our sport's history crowned victorious... Daniela Ryf and Jan Frodeno - you might recognize them? However, at the same time, it has also humbled many more, often leaving pros to reconsider their season plans after a poor early season performance.
This year, the headlines are bold, as on the women’s side is that 2023 champion Tamara Jewett will return to defend her crown, but will face the toughest of competition, not least, from reigning IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Taylor Knibb.
In the men’s race, several triathlon titans will seek to make their mark, with the likes of 2022 champion, Jackson Laundry, Patrick Lange, and Joe Skipper kicking off their campaigns on the West Coast. While dark horses like Olympian Jelle Geens, loom in the shadows of an 80-man-deep start list.
As if you needed more reasons than those headlines alone - here are six major storylines at this year’s edition that explain why tuning in to the race on Saturday, April 6 is an absolute must for every triathlon fan.
The IRONMAN Pro Series gets Underway
The biggest reason, obviously, to get excited for Oceanside, is that it will be the very first race of the heralded IRONMAN Pro Series, billed by many as a new beginning for the organization's professional arm.
2500 points are on offer as a 70.3 distance race (5,000 are offered at full distance races) with athletes losing 1 point per second they finish behind the first-place finisher. This means each athlete, first or last, has every incentive to go all-out from the gun to the tape.
In other words, positions will no longer mean everything, and, quite literally, every second counts. This is something we have never seen before in Triathlon, and towards the end of the season, this could mean we have time, instead of placing in a final race, determining the overall winner of the series.
The Broadcast
One thing that many fans will be keeping an eye out for on April 6th, is the production quality of the race, especially after the difficulties experienced at the Miami T100 by the PTO. If IRONMAN can nail this down, they will win a lot of plaudits from fans and pros alike.
Our hope, as fans, is that the race gives us a sense of what we can expect from the rest of the Pro series; and with such a large investment (1.7 million) into the venture - one would expect to see this area of extreme importance leveled up from previous years. If it is seen as an exciting and engaging addition to the calendar, IRONMAN should have no problem creating a very competitive rival to the T100 Triathlon World Tour.
With top names, a brilliant course, plus the low bar set by the PTO’s opening broadcast in Florida, Oceanside should be an open goal for IRONMAN, one that we hope, for the good of triathlon should be scored.
Lionel Sanders is Back, Baby!
Having wrapped up his season in September last year at IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta, where he finished third, it has been some time since triathlon fan favorite Lionel Sanders has stepped onto a race course.
Having turned down a T100 contract in 2024 to focus on the full distance, much has been made of the Canadian’s preparation for the upcoming season, especially in the water.
Gunning for the crown in Kona this year, Oceanside will give triathlon fans and fellow professionals a first glimpse into whether his ‘new’ approach to training is a false dawn or the real deal.
For the throngs of die-hard Lionel Sanders fans, there is nothing more they would want than for their man to come out on top in California. However, based on his performances last year, a Top 5 would be an encouraging result from Mr ‘No Limits’.
Coming into the twilight of his career, can the Tucson based pro roll back the years and once more compete with the best? We sure hope so!
The Cat and Mouse Game
One thing that always gets the blood pumping as an armchair triathlete is a good swim-bike breakaway, followed by an agonizing run for the line as the chasers slowly reel in a lone athlete up front.
Given the women’s field consists of both ingredients for this cocktail of excitement, two excellent swim-bikers in Paula Findlay and Taylor Knibb, plus lightning-fast runners Tamara Jewett and Emma Pallant-Browne, expect to be on the edge of your seats for much of this race.
However, the big question is, can anyone stop Knibb? That question has been asked time and time again in recent years, as the young American has stormed to back-to-back IRONMAN 70.3 World titles and wins in Oceanside, Boulder, and Milwaukee over the middle distance.
Having already qualified for Paris and is the odds-on favourite to three-peat at the world championship in Taupo at the end of this year, it would take an incredibly special performance to topple the PTO World #4, yet, knowing our sport, it could be done.
Especially when you think back to the 1:12:59 run it took to take the win last year, and there’s no signs that Jewett, or Emma Pallant-Browne for that matter, have gotten any slower. Both did suffer in the Miami heat during their season openers, but bouncing back in Oceanside could be the perfect tonic.
Can you Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?
Despite being two of the most successful long course professionals in the world, both Joe Skipper and Patrick Lange are not renowned for their prowess over the middle distance.
To their credit, they did finish on a half-distance podium last season, Lange in Kraichgau and Skipper in Geraardsbergen, yet their Ironman results by comparison speak for themselves.
Chasing the first IRONMAN Pro Series title, however, requires the tenured pros to race over their ‘weaker’ distance(a minimum of two 70.3s are required for the series), and Oceanside will be a great opportunity for the pair to see how they go against a field filled with fast-twitch fibers (or faster-twitch at least!).
Combining their bike-run power with over a decade of racing experience, could either Lange or Skipper end up on the podium? For some, it may seem unlikely, but don’t rule them out just yet, as the saying goes - it’s not over until the junkyard dog sings!
The Dirty Double
Racing on back-to-back weekends is something several professionals now do in both short-course and long-course racing, cashing in on a good taper for some extra bang for their buck.
Yet, racing back-to-back weekends on separate continents is slightly more unheard of, and unless you’re Kristian Blummenfelt, it is often next to impossible to execute successfully.
However, after a confidence-boosting second-place finish at the Miami T100, American poster boy Sam Long is setting himself up for the dirty double - with an appearance at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside preceding a quick flight over the Pacific to the Singapore T100.
On a tear so far in 2024, Long will look to bring his relentless energy to the beaches of Southern California, notch a first Top 5 finish in Oceanside, before taking a long haul flight over to South East Asia in search of back-to-back 100km podiums.
Still rocking the Dad energy after becoming a father last summer, the Boulder native looks set on some serious butt kicking in 2024 and we are here for it. Get ready people, because April may well serve up a double helping of Sam, “Yo Yo Yo” style.
If all that doesn’t get your blood pumping, we’re not sure what will (Maybe to see 120 new Race Ranger draft detection units in action?). Tune in April 6th at 6:40 am local time on Outside Watch for this PTO Gold tier race with a $50,000 prize purse and just 3 coveted 70.3 World Championship spots for the men and women to fight over. You won’t regret it.
