Ironman 70.3 Oceanside 2025: The epic start to the Pro Series racing season
Field stacked with world champions and former winners, promising an intense showdown this weekend
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Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for Ironman
The 2025 Ironman Pro Series kicks off in North America on April 5 with the Ironman 70.3 Oceanside event. The race features a single-loop swim in Oceanside harbour, a winding bike course through the scenic hills between Oceanside and San Clemente, and a run course consists of two loops that are described as flat and fast.
The world’s top pros will hit the Southern California coast all vying for a total prize purse of $50,000, which makes up the total $1.7 million on the line over the entire Pro Series throughout the season.
Super stacked men’s field
The presence of multiple past champions and other strong competitors signals a highly competitive environment where experience may play a crucial role.
The field is stacked with over 100 pros on the start line, including big names and former winners. Canadian Lionel Sanders is returning as the defending champion, having won a total of three times in 2024, 2017 and 2016.
American Ben Kanute, also a champion at Oceanside with wins in 2022 and 2019 will give Sanders a run for the money, as will fellow American Rudy von Berg, Chris Leiferman and Trevor Foley. Three-time Ironman World Champions Patrick Langley, from Germany, and Ironman World Champions Kristen Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden from Norway are sure to intensify the So-Cal heat as well.
Newbies and seasoned athletes line up
The list of strong contenders goes on. Australian Cam Wurf will be hoping to access more than one gear for a better performance after a technical issue last weekend at Ironman 70.3 Geelong that saw him stuck in one gear on the bike. He continues his quest to race every Pro Series race on the calendar. British athlete Joe Skipper recently proved he’s back on top of his game after bouncing back to a second place win at Ironman New Zealand earlier this month after a previous season of set backs and health issues.
Norway’s Casper Stornes is making his foray into the half distance. The previous short-course athlete brings with him the infamous Norwegian method and will be battling it out against his training partners and countrymen Blummenfelt and Iden. Seasoned athletes are also on the start list, including Braden Currie, Jake Birtwhistle and Sam Appleton.
Canadian women going in strong
The female competitors include past winners and top-performing athletes, indicating a dynamic clash for the title among seasoned athletes like Canadians Paula Findlay and recent victor Tamara Jewett.
Jewett won the race in 2023, outrunning Ironman World Champion Chelsea Sodaro. Findlay has never finished below sixth and brings a lot of experience to the battlefield. Americans Jackie Hering lines up as the second place finisher in the 2024 Pro Series, while Alice Alberts and Danielle Lewis add to the mix.
The points earned from this race will contribute significantly toward the year-end Ironman Pro Series bonus distribution, marking the importance of this early-season event in the overall championship standings.
The April 5 event date marks a pivotal moment, being the launch point of a season with high stakes attached to performance not just in individual races but in the overall series context. Oceanside serves as an early indicator of who may perform well throughout the Pro Series and which athletes are shaping up to be the ones to watch this season.