Originally published at: Ups and Downs from IRONMAN South Africa - Slowtwitch News
The 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series has had its first full distance race of the year — and, of course, has remodeled the current Pro Series standings in its image. IRONMAN South Africa brought plenty of excitement. At the end of the day, Magnus Ditlev and Anne Reischmann took victories, along with the $28,000 USD and maximum 5,000 Pro Series points. Here’s who had good — and not-so-good — days in South Africa.
Up: Your Champions
Perhaps the old adage “bike for show, run for dough” needs to be updated to “swim for show, bike and run for dough.” Both Ditlev and Reischmann put on brilliant displays once on land, with both of them putting in the fastest rides of the day. In Ditlev’s case, his 2:40 marathon was more than enough to hold off Marten Van Riel and his 2:38 run. Reischmann was the only woman to run under three hours, earning a three minute margin over Marta Sanchez.
In all, both took wins, the prize money (and likely some sponsor bonuses alongside it), now lead the IRONMAN Pro Series, and qualified for the IRONMAN World Championships. Not a bad day at the office.
Down: Cody Beals
If Beals had any luck, he would have no luck at all. Beals has struggled since his 2022 campaign — where he raced six IM events in a year and earned two victories, two podiums, and was fourth in his non-podium finishes — between injury, illness, and just bad luck over the last few years. On Sunday, Beals was racing with a mild calf issue that, very early in the run, decided to become something more than that under six kilometers in. Beals, to his credit, pulled the ripcord; it’s more professional for him to DNF and start somewhere else than to try to race through it.
Perhaps the silver lining is this — he DNF’d his first race of the year in 2019, too. And then went on to take two wins and two seconds in his next four races.
Up: Top 5 and IM World Championship Qualifiers
Because IRONMAN South Africa is a regional championship, there were 5 slots for both men and women on the line for Nice and Kona, respectively. That means the following athletes all qualified with their results from this weekend:
Men’s Qualifiers:
| Place | Name (Country) | Swim | Bike | Run | Finish | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Ditlev (DEN) | 52:52 | 4:07:22 | 2:40:3 | 7:44:5 | $28,000 |
| 2 | Marten Van Riel (BEL) | 50:17 | 4:16:31 | 2:38:4 | 7:49:2 | $17,500 |
| 3 | Jonas Schomburg (DEU) | 50:27 | 4:16:50 | 2:41:4 | 7:52:1 | $11,000 |
| 4 | Jonas Hoffman (DEU) | 52:53 | 4:29:08 | 2:39:4 | 8:06:0 | $8,500 |
| 5 | Jamie Riddle (ZAF) | 50:25 | 4:26:31 | 2:46:0 | 8:09:3 | $6,500 |
Women’s Top 5:
| Place | Name (Country) | Swim | Bike | Run | Finish | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anne Reischmann (DEU) | 1:05:2 | 4:43:31 | 2:59:15 | 8:51:4 | $28,000 |
| 2 | Marta Sanchez (ESP) | 57:28 | 4:51:23 | 3:01:54 | 8:54:5 | $17,500 |
| 3 | Katrine Græsbøll Christensen (DEN) | 1:07:4 | 4:45:45 | 3:01:09 | 8:58:4 | $11,000 |
| 4 | Laura Jansen (DEU) | 1:03:5 | 4:55:20 | 3:10:22 | 9:14:1 | $8,500 |
| 5 | Maja Stage Nielsen (DEN) | 1:02:2 | 4:48:21 | 3:09:58 | 9:15:0 | $6,500 |
On the women’s side, with Reischmann and Sanchez having already earned Kona qualification, slots went to Jana Uderstadt and Charlène Clavel.
Of the list of qualifiers, perhaps the most intriguing of the names is T100 Champion Van Riel. He had attempted to earn his Nice slot last fall at IRONMAN Cozumel, but a collision with a spectator on the bike derailed those plans. Any sub 2:40 marathon will put you in the hunt at one of these events, and Van Riel looked the most comfortable out of any athlete on foot.
Honorable mention to Sanchez. The defending champion took a full twenty minutes off her finish time from last year, but was unable to match Reischmann’s relentless charge late in the bike and then on the run. Still, it bodes well for an athlete who might love to race more than anybody; Sanchez toed the line 13 times in 2024.
Down: IM Live Coverage
Look. I don’t want to be talking about it all year. The biggest compliment I can give the broadcast this time around is that it didn’t glitch out like Geelong did. But it feels like there is either a lack of on-the-ground information being tossed back to the hosts, or there’s a willful ignorance of that information. Either way, it’s now the second race where your commentary team is saying one thing, while the data and images in front of us are saying another. It’s not fair to the people working on the broadcast; it’s not fair to the athletes racing and their sponsors and partners who pay bonuses for showing up at these big events; it’s not fair to your audience.
I am hoping that much of this comes down to not having infrastructure in place at the new Pro Series stops, and we’ll see an improved product this weekend in Oceanside.
Quick counterpoint, though: the IRONMAN Social team did an excellent job with their reels and captions. Where information wasn’t on broadcast, it was very clear here. (See the next two points in this article.)
Up: Paul Wijtenburg
You will rightly be asking “who the f*** is Paul Wijtenburg?” Well, let’s allow Chloe Lane to tell that story.
“I was fully prepared with a repair kit to fix a potential flat tire. In my bento box, I had 2 tubes, 1 CO2, an adapter, a crack pipe, and a tyre lever. When I went to transition this morning, I noticed my chain was off, didn’t think much of it at the time.
When I flatted on the course and couldn’t find my adapter in my bento box, I figured my bike must have fallen over in the wind overnight, and the adapter fell out possibly?. I immediately thought of that iconic moment when Bek Keat gave Chrissie Wellington a CO2 in Kona, so I decided to ask fellow competitors while waiting for neutral support.
Huge thanks to Paul, the legend, who stopped to help!”
Lane would later give Wijtenburg his finisher medal, who finished in 14:58:58.
Down: Transition Directions
This one happened pretty early in the day, and didn’t have massive implications on the results — but I felt like it was important to call out. Local pro athlete Jamie Riddle was part of the front swim pack, alongside Van Riel, Jonas Schomburg, and Andrew Horsfall-Turner. Exiting the swim and through transition, though, somehow Riddle had made a wrong turn after gathering his helmet. He was forced to run back around to access his bike, losing the front pack in the process.
What I can’t seem to figure out, having re-watched this part of the broadcast far too may times now, is how did he get that turned around in the first place? Now, yes, look: every athlete needs to know the course. But I would also say that there’s something unclear in how transition is marked and mapped for one of your lead pack men to get this wrong.
Photos:
Ditlev, Crowd: Richard Pearce / IRONMAN
Reischmann, Sanchez: Chris Hitchcock / IRONMAN
this is probably the right place and time to remark that I completed a 17k run (a jog for for her) with her a couple of years ago and if you’re imagining good things about the lady’s personality and demeanor, you’re right.