Given the incredible – and almost unprecedented – line up at IRONMAN Texas, IRONMAN South Africa a day later was always going to struggle to compare.

Rarely has there been a start list outside an IRONMAN World Championship that matches up to those set to compete in the Lone Star State on Saturday 18 April.

But the South African race in Nelson Mandela Bay could yet prove to be a shrewd option for the elites, with four IRONMAN World Championship slots for each gender on offer (compared to six from those stacked Texas fields).

The pros will will also be racing for a share of the $150,000 event prize purse (Texas is $175K).

Marquardt’s unique preparation

And in the absence of last year’s champions – Magnus Ditlev of Denmark and Anne Resichmann of Germany – new ones will be crowned.

In the men’s race bib #1 goes to American Matthew Marquardt who goes there off the back of racing Absa Cape Epic.

The man with arguably the best time management in pro triathlon has two IRONMAN victories to his name – Cairns and Lake Placid, both last year – and provided his legs have recovered from 600km+ of cycling, is surely the favourite.

He also has previous at so-called maverick training builds to successful IRONMAN races, having enjoyed a family cruise before his triumph at Cairns.

And writing ahead of IRONMAN South Africa, he posted on Instagram: “How I kept up with Ironman Training during an 8 day mountain bike race.

“This was my training week during Cape Epic 2026.

“As a protriathlete with my first “real” race quickly approaching, I made the decision to add on training during Cape Epic.

“It might seem reckless to add volume to an already incredibly demanding week, but cape epic was never about racing for me and it is super important to keep some consistency with the running and swimming. To stay safe, my coach and I made day-by-day decisions for how much run and swim training to add on.

“Altogether it was about 40 hours of load over 7 days. Definitely a personal record as I rarely touch even 30 hours. Now, I just need to make sure I recover and absorb that load properly.”

Massive kudus to him – and remember he continues his studies at Ohio State University College of Medicine, where his passion is to play a role in the fight against cancer.

Riddle a rising force

In bib #2 on the men’s side and returning for the second year to his hometown race is Olympian Jamie Riddle.

In 2025, Riddle finished in an impressive fifth place in his debut IRONMAN race as he was spurred on by the incredible local support and he went on to secure top ten finishes at both the IRONMAN World Championship, where he helped animate the race, and the 70.3 World Championship.

Another name to look out for is the 2024 IRONMAN African Champion Rasmus Svenningsson (SWE) who will be looking to repeat the feat from two years ago.

Strong UK challenge

Heading the women’s professional field will be Katrine Christensen (DEN) who won IRONMAN Kalmar and 70.3 Krakow last year, whilst also finishing third in this race.

Representing the UK will be Rebecca Anderbury, Daisy Davies and Claire Hann who will all be battling it out for a piece of the $150,000 prize purse and those Kona slots.

Other names to look out for include Ann Pabinger (AUT) who took the crown at IRONMAN Chattanooga and Aussie Penny Slater who most recently came fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.