The Swim Gear of the Leaders at the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship

As is our tradition here at Slowtwitch, we begin our post-Kona gear articles with the swim. In case you’re wondering why women’s swim leader Lucy Charles-Barclay doesn’t appear on the list, athletes need to finish to be included.

This year’s swim was a choppy affair, to the point where even experienced pros like Laura Philipp complained of getting seasick. Thanks to those conditions, the times were considerably slower than in years past, with Charles-Barclay (51:28) running up to the pier over three minutes slower than her best time (48:14) set in 2018. On the men’s side, swim-leader Marten Van Riel (48:17) went 2:34 slower than Aussie age-grouper Sam Askey-Doran’s (45:43) swim course record set in 2024.

So here’s the list of the top-10 pro women and men swimmers from Kona this year.

Women:

ROKA definitely led the pack when it came to the top swim times in Kona this year, with four of the women in our list wearing their suits. Blueseventy and Sailfish each had a couple of athletes in the mix, too.

1. Taylor Knibb 52:55

The eventual champion went with the ROKA Viper X3 Short Sleeve suit as opposed to the white “ghost” version that many of the other pros wore. Even with the sleeves, the suit uses “hyperflexible, hydrophobic textile” to ensure there is still lots of shoulder movement.

2. Marta Sanchez 52:59

The Spanish star would start her day off in style, coming out of the water third overall, just behind Knibb. Sanchez swam in the Zone3 Streamline Sleeveless swimskin.

3. Lara Hernandez-Tome 53:00

The Spaniard wore the blueseventy PZ5TX to an excellent swim. Blueseventy was the company that created the original swimskin, and the latest iteration uses Italian-milled Python fabric for optimal hydronamic performance.

4. Rachel Zilinskas 53:07

The American was the first out of the water wearing the speedy ROKA Viper X3 Ghost, which stands out thanks to the white fabric. In addition to the fast hydrodynamic fabric, the Ghost is also designed to reflect the sun to keep athletes a bit cooler.

5. Imogen Simmonds 53:08

The Swiss star would finish fifth out of the water and fifth overall wearing her Sailfish Rebel Pro 4. Sailfish was founded by Jan Sibbersen, who broke a number of swim records as a pro, then returned as an age-grouper in 2018 to set a Kona swim record.

6. Julie Derron 53:09

The Olympic silver medalist would take third on the day in Kona. She started her day off in style wearing the Orca Apex Swimskin.

7. Hannah Berry 53:12

The New Zealand athletes also chose the ROKA Viper X3 Ghost. She would eventually finish seventh.

8. Lotte Wilms 54:31

Chalk up another top-10 for the ROKA Viper X3 Ghost. The Dutch athlete (who lives in Australia now) would ultimately finish 12th.

9. Regan Hollioake 54:32

The Australian also wore the Sailfish Rebel Pro 4. She would finish 17th.

10. Lisa Perterer 54:34

Another athlete who used the blueseventy PZ5TX, the Austrian star would eventually finish sixth.

Men:

Heading into race day, Deboer had 11 pro men athletes it was supporting in the field, so it’s not a surprise that the Dutch company led the numbers in the top-10. ROKA did have the day’s fastest men’s swim to go along with top-billing in the women’s race.

1. Marten Van Riel 48:17

The day began very well for the Belgian Kona rookie. He would eventually struggle on the run, but his day certainly got off to a great start as he managed to showcase the ROKA Viper X3 Ghost.

2. Menno Koolhaas 48:18

The Dutch athlete would have been wearing a Deboer Tsunami swimskin, but the zipper broke just before the start of the swim, so he just went without!

3. Wilhelm Hirsch 48:21

The German wore his Sailfish Rebel Pro 4 to start the day off in an excellent position.

4. Matthew Marquardt 48:25

The American medical student wore the Deboer Tsunami 4.0 to put himself in a perfect position to fight for the podium – he was third out of the water and would end up third on the day.

4. Kacper Stepniak 48:25

The Polish athlete wore the blueseventy PZ5TX to put himself in a great position starting the bike. He would eventually finish one spot out of the prize money in 15th.

6. Antonio Benito López 48:27

The Spanish speedster had an excellent start to the day wearing his Orca Apex Swimskin. A tough run would see him cross the line in 38th.

7. Pierre Le Corre 48:29

The French Olympian was racing in just his second IRONMAN race, but the Kona rookie would wear the Huub Sub7 Swimskin to an excellent swim and an eventual fifth-place finish.

7. Jumpei Furuya 48:29

The Japanese athlete wore the Huub Sub7 Swimskin and had an excellent day, finishing 19th.

9. Mattia Ceccarelli 48:30

The Italian is sponsored by Camaro, so we’re assuming he wore the company’s Aquaskin Wavesuit to stay in the top-10 out of the water.

10. Vincent Luis 48:31

The eventual champion word the Deboer Tsunami 4.0 to begin his day, finishing the swim in perfect position to remain competitive throughout the rest of the day.

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