Henri Schoeman and Natalie Van Coevorden claimed victory in the men’s and women’s professional races at IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu Lapu, with both athletes leading from start to finish to take the wins.
Here’s how the races played out in the Philippines.
Men’s race
South Africa’s Schoeman made it back-to-back IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu Lapu victories, crossing the line in 4:08:53, almost four minutes ahead of Sebastian Fuchs (AUT), with Ben Hamilton (NZL) third.
Schoeman was first out of the water following the 1.9km swim and didn’t look back from there, extending his lead across the bike leg as the weather heated up in Lapu Lapu.
Once on the run he consolidated his lead, holding the gap to a fast finishing Fuchs across the half marathon.
He explained: “I tried to push as hard as I could in the swim, I created a gap on the bike and then I just wanted to hold my pace, hold the gap to the guys behind as best I could which I did and then on the run I just wanted to make sure that I got to the finish line because I know it gets really hot on the run and I wanted to make sure I didn’t overdo it.
“I’m feeling pretty tired, my legs are like rocks now, I was cramping up towards the end of the run,” added Schoeman. “You know I’m really happy that I came back, I won the race and despite everything that happened during the week once again I’m the champion here so I can’t complain about anything.
“It means so much, I’ve had a really tough two years, struggling to find my form so this win is going to give me confidence, and it shows that I’m a really good athlete and there’s more to come.”
Women’s race
Australia’s Van Coevorden was winning her third IRONMAN 70.3 race of the year, with victory in the Philippines following visits to the top step of the podium at IRONMAN 70.3 Vitoria-Gasteiz and IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney.
Van Coevorden took the win in 4:30:12, more than 17 minutes ahead of Charlotte McShane, with Paige Cranage making it an all Australian podium in third.
Van Coevorden finished the swim just four seconds ahead of McShane and instantly got to work once she was on the bike, extending her lead at each timing point across the 90km course. That theme continued once on the run, with the Olympian overcoming the hot conditions to win.
“I’m pretty tired to be honest, I think we had probably the most challenging conditions I’ve ever raced in for an IRONMAN 70.3 today, it was hot, it was windy and I had a pretty solo day by myself but happy to take the win and the support was great out on course,” said Van Coevorden.
“Every win is very special, you don’t get many opportunities in your career to hold up a tape so to have my third win in 2026 is really special, Lapu Lapu really put on a show, it was a fantastic race to be a part of.
“Everything went to plan, I just stuck to my pace and pretty much went steady all day and capped it off with a pretty solid win,” she said.
IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu Lapu results
MEN
- Henri Schoeman – 4:08:53
- Sebastian Fuchs – 4:12:52
- Ben Hamilton – 4:14:35
- Nathan Dortmann – 4:22:05
- Thomas Inigo – 4:24:32
WOMEN
- Natalie Van Coevorden – 4:30:12
- Charlotte McShane – 4:47:34
- Paige Cranage – 4:53:18
- Emily Donker – 4:54:29
- Sarah Thomas – 5:16:48
