Lucy Charles-Barclay 2023

After a 10-year swimming career, including an Olympic Trials final in the 10K open water category, Great Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay made the switch to long course triathlon.

Now, she’s a world-leading triathlete and has become one of the biggest names in the sport. She is a three-time top Ironman World Championship finisher and has won numerous races including the 2021 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

A World leading Triathlete

British triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay is one of the top triathletes on the planet. After a successful competitive swimming career, she turned her attention to Ironman triathlons and has never looked back.

She has won the coveted VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Kona and several other races, but that isn’t the only accolade she has earned over the years. She has also been a consistent contender at the IRONMAN 70.3 level, finishing in the top five in her age group at numerous events.

Charles-Barclay has been sponsored by Kask since 2015 and is currently training for the upcoming Ironman World Championship in Kona. Her KASK branded bike helmets are designed to keep her cool on those long, hot rides while providing her with all the protection she needs for the race’s 180km time trial.

A former competitive swimmer, Charles-Barclay started her triathlon journey in 2014 and has since won the age group at the IRONMAN World Championship, 70.3 worlds and a variety of other races around the globe. She has become a force to be reckoned with in the sport and has been named by several publications as one of the most promising young athletes in the world.

The Zwift video also explains the award-winning British athlete’s road to Kona and her preparation for the big day, which included a training camp in Lanzarote. This was followed by a week in St. George where she put in a solid performance at the PTO US Open and is now looking forward to the biggest race of her young pro career in Kona in two weeks.

Despite her injuries, she has pushed herself to the limit and is in prime condition to deliver her best performance. She has a strong support network that includes her husband, Reece Barclay, a British professional Ironman triathlete who coaches her at the professional level.

Ironman 70.3 World Champion

Lucy Charles-Barclay 2023 is a World leading Triathlete with no less than five Ironman Championships to her name. Her motto of fighting spirit, serious preparation, always believing in yourself and taking risks have been key factors in her success.

She started her career as a competitive swimmer and has now become a triathlete. She has competed at Ironman 70.3 races in the US, Canada and South Africa, where she has placed in the top 5 each time.

Her first victory at an Ironman 70.3 was at the Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga in October 2020, where she came out on top of Emma Pallant-Browne by a mere four seconds! She has since gone on to win two more IRONMAN 70.3 events, including a brilliant second-place finish at the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Having already won the IRONMAN 70.3 Middle East in 2015, her next race is at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in St. George, Utah.

The defending women’s champion had a shaky start to her race, but she picked up the pace over the bike course. Having initially started just 26 seconds behind the lead group of Taylor Knibb and Eric Lagerstrom, she moved into the lead after the first transition.

Blummenfelt fought with American Ben Kanute for the majority of the ride, and the two continued to battle each other on the run. But with a little over four kilometres to go, the Norwegian pulled away from Kanute and ran to a win!

Kanute’s efforts earned him a second-place finish, with Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev in third. Miki Tagholt and Frederick Funk finished fourth and fifth.

Ironman 70.3 European Champion

Lucy Charles-Barclay is one of the fastest triathletes in the world. She is the 2021 Ironman 70.3 European Champion, a Collins Cup Winner on Team Europe and a 3X top Ironman World Championship Finisher.

After a break from racing, the 29-year-old put in an incredible comeback at the Kona Ironman 70.3 event in 2019. She raced from gun to tape to take the title ahead of fellow GB pro-Emma Pallant-Browne and Taylor Knibb.

She was also crowned as the PTO US Open winner in October, which was her fourth consecutive podium at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships. She now has Olympic ambitions and she is a huge role model to many young triathletes.

In 2023, she will compete at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship in Tallinn, Estonia. The event will offer qualifying slots for the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in 2024.

The course starts at Lake Harku where athletes will enjoy a 1.9km one-loop open water swim before biking through the city and countryside and back to Tallinn. Lastly, they will complete a 21km two-lap run course through the historic old town of Tallinn.

There will be a total of 115 professionals and over 6,000 age-group triathletes competing at the event. Defending Ironman 70.3 World Champions Gustav Iden (NOR) and Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) head the pro start list, but they will be up against the fresh competition. Americans Taylor Knibb and Sam Long, and 2021 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) will also be battling it out for the title.

The event will be held in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The course will start at Lake Harku and will take athletes through the city and countryside before they finish at Seaplane Harbour. Afterwards, there will be a festival weekend of racing in the capital. The race is the final European race of the year and offers a great chance to end the season on a high note.

Collins Cup Winner on Team Europe

Lucy Charles-Barclay is a World leading triathlete who races at the VinFast IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. She is a member of the 2021 Team Europe squad and has won three Ironman events, including two World titles in 70.3 distances.

Her performance at the Collins Cup in 2022 was one of the most exciting to ever see. She won eight of her 12 match-ups to win the race for her team.

She also took the fastest women’s time at the event. In match #1 she dominated Daniela Ryf, taking the win by a huge 16 minutes on the bike and running to claim the maximum three bonus points in her race.

In match #2, she was again on the winning side but it wasn’t all plain sailing for her. She had to fight through Katie Zaferes and Paula Findlay to pull ahead of them on the run.

Another key matchup saw Captains’ Pick Taylor Knibb tear apart Daniela Ryf. She put seven minutes into her swim and another seven on the bike to take the win in 2:48, setting a new fastest time at the Collins Cup.

It was an impressive performance, especially considering she was racing on a road bike, but her time still came down to the final 10k. She pulled away from Ryf and ran her own pace, grabbing the maximum three bonus points to secure victory for her team.

The Collins Cup is the flagship event of the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) and pits the top short-course and Olympic athletes against their long-course rivals from the U.S. and internationally for a $1.5 million prize purse.

3X top Ironman World Championship Finisher

Despite missing out on selection for the 2012 Olympic trials in both swimming and triathlon, Lucy Charles-Barclay has gone on to win multiple elite distance races, including her first Ironman World Championship in 2017 at age 20. Having been an elite swimmer before turning professional, she has proven herself as a formidable competitor in both the Ironman and 70.3 distances.

With an impressive list of achievements under her belt, Charles-Barclay is well-equipped to continue her rise in the ranks. As a result, she is TYR Sport’s latest athlete to be signed to their roster of sponsored athletes.

She is the reigning 70.3 world champion and has already won the Ironman World Championship in Kona on two occasions. She also holds the course record, a feat that she has defended in 2018.

This year, she will compete on an Oversized Pulley Wheel System (OSPW), with a special purple pulley wheel set specially engraved with her name and personal motto ‘Live to Inspire’. Her success has led her to become the third British women to be signed up to TYR Sport for a full-time partnership with the company, following in the footsteps of Keri-anne Payne and Jodie Stroud.

The world of triathlon has seen some huge changes in the last decade, with the top 10 places in Ironman World Championships becoming increasingly close and more difficult to break down for both men and women. This trend has been largely attributed to improved performance across all disciplines, as well as a growing number of seasoned athletes taking part in the event.

The list of world-class champions is dominated by the big names, with six-time Kona winner Dave Scott and four-time Ironman World Champion Daniela Ryf both ranking high in the top 10. But there are a few names who have stood out for the ages. The Kona scene is littered with legends, including Julie Moss and Alistair Brownlee, both of whom have claimed multiple titles on the Ironman circuit.

 There is a lot of controversy surrounding the title of ‘Ironman Champion’ – some believe it is akin to an Olympic gold medal, while others claim that it only relates to Ironman races. The true definition of an ‘Ironman Champion’ is to be the first person to complete all three sections of an Ironman triathlon.

 That is why we think that Charles-Barclay, who has already won a 70.3 World Championship and placed fourth at the 70.3 Worlds this year, should be in the running for the Kona crown. She has the form to win a full-distance race, and she is looking forward to competing in Hawaii.