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Rob Sears has been racing with a guide since 2020. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon In July 2025, everything looked good for the U.K.’s Rob Sears. A visually impaired triathlete, he and his guide, Ant Munson, had just signed up for their first IRONMAN together. His wife, Loren, was also set to race. It wasn’t for a full year — IRONMAN Hamburg in June 2026 — but they were all keen to work toward an exciting shared goal. Then he tripped over one of his dogs and fell down a flight of stairs.

Photos: Kevin Mackinnon There’s not a lot she hasn’t done in triathlon. Renowned as one of the sport’s all-time greats, from the day she set her sights on elite and pro racing, Jones was a dominant force in the sport. There were back-to-back ITU World Championships in 1992 and 1993. She took the inaugural XTERRA World Championship in 1996. She topped the ITU World Cup rankings from 1998 through 2000 as the sport built towards its Olympic debut.

Photo: Courtesy ROKA Multisport Walk into the expo at any IRONMAN event these days and you’ll see a cluster of athletes checking out the ROKA Multisport and glasses products, all under posters depicting some of the sport’s biggest names. It’s been an incredible journey for the company that got its start less than 15 years ago when a pair of undersized, over-motivated former Stanford swimmers filled a garage full of neoprene as they sought to create the world’s fastest wetsuit.

After providing more than 4,000 bike fits since the late 90’s, including those for many of Wove’s pro triathlon and UCI WorldTour athletes, I’ve come to the conclusion that your bike fit begins with your saddle.

Jelle Geens beats Kristian Blummenfelt to the line at the 2025 70.3 World Championship. They are among the returning at this year’s event in Nice. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon The 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship is set to go in Nice, France, this weekend. With more than 6,500 athletes ready to toe the start line in the Mediterranean Sea, there are countless stories waiting to be told.

Coach Paulo Sousa’s 3D printed paddles. High up in the French Pyrenees, Paulo Sousa’s world-class triathlon squad is hard at work in the pool. After a series of hard fifty meter reps, they move on to paddle work. But they aren’t using paddles that I’ve ever seen before. They are rounded in shape with an off-centre “fin” coming down from the wrist to the forearm. They are loosely reminiscent of a Finis-brand style but they aren’t in their signature yellow and there is no branding on them.

The sport’s biggest one-day payday offered the usual Supertri excitement with the two athletes who are dominating draft-legal racing these days – Cassandre Beaugrand and Matt Hauser – showing their prowess and taking home a quarter of the US$800,000 prize purse – the win was worth $100,000 for each of the champions.

The pro women’s start at the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship.

Jonathan Brownlee competes at Supertri Toronto in 2025. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon Three-time Olympic medalist Jonathan Brownlee announced his retirement from professional triathlon earlier today, ahead of what was supposed to be his final pro race on the weekend. the Supertri Pro Series Final.

Things haven’t exactly gone to plan here at Slowtwitch’s Pacific Northwest outpost as I build toward my two fall races. First, we had a massive wildfire near Mount Hood that threatened our home ski resort but also led to thick enough smoke that it has set off the fire detectors in our home twice. That also meant that a whole lot of my training over the last six weeks has been inside — even moreso than normal.