IRONMAN Kalmar 2026: Schomburg’s First Title, Philipp Breaks Course Record

The final professional full-distance Kona qualifier of the year offered some interesting story lines today, with a number of Kona qualified speedsters on hand to either pad their IRONMAN Pro Series standings or dial in their Kona prep, along with a number of athletes looking for their spots for Kona. In the end it was a pair of already-qualified athletes who took the day – Germany’s Jonas Schomburg and Laura Philipp.

Schomburg Finally Dials It In

It’s not as though Schomburg hasn’t had some big performances since he moved up to full-distance racing. He took third in his first full-distance race at IRONMAN South Africa last year, then finished second at Challenge Roth (after bike issues forced him out of IRONMAN Frankfurt the week before). He would feature in the incredibly competitive mix at last year’s worlds in Nice, eventually finishing sixth. This year once again saw him compete in the mix at IRONMAN Texas and Challenge Roth, but pacing always seemed to be the issue – he would eventually finish seventh at the incredibly competitive IRONMAN Texas race, then fifth at another competitive outing at Challenge Roth.

Today, though, Schomburg figured those pacing issues out, finishing reasonably close to Kristian Blummenfelt’s IRONMAN world best time (either 7:21:11 from Cozumel in 2021 with a down current swim or this year’s 7:21:24 from Texas … yes, we know that Sam Laidlow went 7:21:04 at Challenge Roth) with his 7:22:57 finish.

The day began with Switzerland’s Sven Thalmann leading the way out of the water in 44:55, a couple of seconds ahead of Schomburg, with another Swiss swimming speedster, Andreas Salisbury another second back. There were a few more contenders in the lead group, including Italy’s Gregory Barnaby, Antonio Benito (ESP), Kacper Stepniak (POL) and Henrik Goesch (FIN). That group had a lead of almost 90 seconds on the next pack out of the water that included American Matthew Marquardt and Dane Daniel Bækkegard.

By 30 km into the ride a large lead group had formed, with Bækkegard leading the way ahead of Goesch, Stepniak, Marquardt, Schomburg, Barnaby and Benito. Eventually super-cyclist Robert Kallin would drive his way to the front, pulling two minutes clear of the group, and would eventually hit T2 just over four minutes ahead of Marquardt, Schomburg, with Bækkegard at 4:40, Barnaby at 5:03, Salvisberg at 5:54. Americans Trevor Foley and Matt Hanson found themselves well back of the lead as they began the run – Foley was in 10th, 11:51 behind, while Hanson found himself a whopping 27 minutes back as he started the run.

Through the end of the first run lap Kallin’s time at the front was all done as Schomburg surged to the lead, having run clear of Barnaby, who was 2:22 back, with Marquardt at 3:41 ahead of Stepniak (who would eventually drop out) and Salvisburg, who was just a few seconds behind.

By the halfway point of the run Schomburg was almost three minutes up on Barnaby, with Salvisburg now in third at 4:03, with Marquardt having dropped back a bit, now 30 seconds behind Salvisburg. Baekkegard was looking good to nail his Kona slot, sitting in fifth, just under seven minutes down.

With roughly 10 km to go it was becoming apparent that Schomburg had finally figured his pacing as he continued to run clear of the chasers, but the race for the final spots on the podium were suddenly getting very interesting as Barnaby started to fade as Salvisberg and Marquardt began to push for the line. With 4 km to go Marquardt was still in third, but making his push for second. With two km to go the gap was just five seconds, and then Marquardt managed to pull ahead, eventually getting to the line in 7:28:28, just 26 seconds ahead of the Swiss athlete (7:28:54).

After the race Schomburg said that part of the reason he didn’t push too hard early in the bike was he thought he might have had a puncture – regardless of what motivated him, today’s strategy obviously panned out.

“I’m super happy to take my first pro IRONMAN win and to do it in Sweden is even better – I love the people and the atmosphere here,” Schomburg said.

Marquardt, always analytical of his racing, was also happy with his pacing on the day, which included a negative split on the run.

“Overall I’m very happy,” the American said. “On the run you really have to run your race. In Lake Placid I feel like I took things a bit too hot.”

“I came here to qualify for Kona and got on the podium,” said a thrilled Andreas Salvisburg. “I was always in control and stayed on my nutrition through the race.”

Barnaby would hang on for fourth, with Bækkegard rounding out the top five. Hanson would post the day’s fastest marathon to run his way to seventh, one spot ahead of Foley.

Salvisberg would grab the first Kona qualifying slot, with Barnaby and Bækkegård taking the final two spots to race on the Big Island in October.

No Touching Philipp

American Rachel Zilinksas swam well clear of the rest of the field, finishing the swim finish in 49:17, over three minutes ahed of Linda Brännlund, with Philipp and American Jackie Herring a few more seconds back.

It didn’t take long for Philipp to make her mark on the race once she hit the bike – the German surged past Zilinskas and, by the 53 km check point was over a minute ahead of the American. Another Germany, Jenny Jendryschik, had worked her way to third, with defending champion Katrine Christensen struggling to get herself in the mix in fourth at about three minutes behind, while Herring was sitting in fifth at 4:28 down.

By the end of the bike Philipp remained well ahead of Christensen (who had out-biked her at IRONMAN Hamburg earlier this year) and hit T2 with a lead of 5:29 over the Dane, with Zilinskas in third at 7:47 down, Jendryschik in fourth at 8:21 behind and Herring in fifth, 10:24 back of the leader.

Once out on the run course Philipp was gone, clearly on track for a good day of racing and leaving the rest of the field well behind. Through the end of the first lap (13.6 km) Christensen was gamely hanging on to second, but was 11:43 behind, with Jendryschik now in third at 13:30, Zilinskas in fourth at 14:16, and Hering still in fifth, nursing her way through the marathon after dealing with some injury issues, but only about a minute behind her countrywoman.

By halfway through the marathon the lead was up to 15 minutes, and Philipp was starting to feel the effects of the day.

“The run got tough … the cobblestones, the wind, and some heat made it quite tough from the beginning,” she would say after the race.

If the 2024 IRONMAN world champ was finding it tough, it was even more brutal for the rest of the women in the field. By the end of the day Philipp’s 2:52:57 marathon split got her to the finish in 8:13:37, shattering Christensen’s course record from last year (8:27:49). Christensen would take a hard earned second, with Herring running her way to the final spot on the podium ahead of Jendryschik, with another German, Leonie Konczalla getting ahead of Zilinskas to round out the top five.

After the race Philipp acknowledged the tough conditions, but also had high praise or the famed Kalmar atmosphere – “the atmosphere before the swim was amazing.”

“I really wanted to prove to myself that I could ride strong on a flat run course – in Hamburg I felt really bad on the bike,” Philipp said. “It was such a great surprise that I was building a lead.”

I am just happy I made it to the finish line,” an exhausted Kristensen said after the rade. “I felt terrible from the start. I’m really proud of myself to get second place.”

That runner-up finish also moves Kristensen into the lead in the IRONMAN Pro Series.

Jendryschik will earn the first of the three Kona qualifying slots, with Konczalla and Milowsky also nailing their chances to race on the Big Island.

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