Updated on March 28, 2026 at 09:47 PM
Taylor Knipp (USA) removed any doubt about race support just a week after winning the Gold T100, as she produced an outstanding performance to take her third Oceanside title from T1 to stripe.
In his third race in just four weeks, Christian Blumenfelt (NOR) overcame a two-minute deficit on the bike to beat Jonas Schomburg (GER) and Sam Long (USA) in the final miles, setting a course record of 1:07:01.
It was an unseasonably warm morning in Oceanside Harbor, as 64 men and 31 women dived in relatively temperate waters, setting the stage for a nonstop day of fireworks and drama.
Notably, the risk of exclusion at the Marine Corps base was lower this year due to the removal of speed limit enforcement, although it remained a restricted zone.
Women’s race
Knipp started with a perfect swim, finishing behind in-form Vitoria Lopez (BRA) and Lara Hernandez-Toomey (USA), while staying ahead of US Olympic athlete Kirsten Kasper, who won for the first time in 70.3 late last year.
After a quick transition, the three-time 70.3 world champion immediately took control of the race, opening up a lead of nearly three minutes over the defending champion. Ironman World Champion Solveig Løvseth (no). From there, her advantage continued to grow slowly over Loveseth, but quickly over most of the field.
At the same time, defending champion Paula Findlay (Canada) was swimming uncharacteristically slowly and retired early on the bike.
By the halfway point, Knipp’s lead had extended to three and a half minutes over Spain’s Marta Sanchez, with Løvseth having the second-fastest split and moving into third. In only her second race on the long course, France’s Audrey Merle was also going well, with Casper and Lopez falling back towards Jackie Herring, who was seven and a half minutes behind by this stage.
Getting off her bike, Knibb broke the bike course record by more than two and a half minutes, building what seemed like an insurmountable lead heading into T2. She only widened that gap early in the round before fading a bit during the second half, allowing Loveseth to begin to claw back time.
In the end, both women went well under the previous course record and smashed the old course record, but it was Nipp who prevailed, although the gap narrowed to just over two minutes at the end, pushing her to the tape. The duo will meet again at Ironman Texas in what looks like three weeks 2025 IRONMAN World Championship rematchwhere Knibb narrowly lost to Løvseth.
Despite leading from start to finish, “it wasn’t easy at all,” Knipp said after the race, especially with Løvseth closing in throughout the race. She was amazed that she “never felt tired” when she came down from the altitude just five days ago. Merle announced her name to the long track world, taking the podium with seven minutes to spare.
2026 Women’s Ironman 70.3 Oceanside Results
Men’s race
On the men’s side, Mark Dobrik (USA) and Jonas Schomburg led the swim, creating a small gap to a large chasing group that included Kasper Stornes (NOR), Rudi von Berg (USA), and Blumenfelt, all within 25 seconds.
The outstanding swim came from 42-year-old Cameron Worf (AUS), just 30 seconds ahead, while Sam Long came out just two minutes behind and was well placed for the bike.
It was Long who benefited the most, riding through the field to join Schomburg at the front, with the pair pushing the pace for much of the ride, eventually making it to T2 together.
Early drama occurred when Justin Riel (USA), last year’s fastest athlete on the bike, crashed after swimming in the front section after a front tire blew. He was taken to hospital and later provided an update.
Behind leaders Long and Schomburg, a large chasing group comprising Blummenfelt, Stornes, Gustav Iden (NOR), Ben Kanute (USA) and Jackson Laundry (CAN) rolled into T2 over the course of two minutes, facing a mountain to climb behind these two good runners.
Three miles into the race, Blummenfelt was unsurprisingly quickest on the track, steadily closing the gap, but it looked as if that wouldn’t be enough, with the pair at the front setting a fast pace of their own.
However, in the end, with just under two miles remaining, he managed to catch both Long and Schaumburg before pulling clear to secure Back-to-back wins in the Pro 70.3 series. Schaumburg finished narrowly in second place, just 23 seconds behind, setting up a highly anticipated showdown between the two in Texas.
As he did in Nice, Storns cruised to perfection, moving through the field late to take the final podium place before Long looked visibly frustrated and disappointed at the finish line. His run of 1:08:35 marked a complete comeback after suffering an Achilles injury this winter that kept him out of the initial Pro Series races.
Many athletes from the field will now turn their focus to quick recovery and a short, full-distance training block before taking on Ironman Texas in three weeks, where one of the strongest fields of the entire season is expected to join, including Cat Matthews (USA), Patrick Lange (GER) and Magnus Detlef (DEN), all set to join the fray at The Woodlands.
