With what I think is the perfect mix of length and intensity, the Half Ironman triathlon, aka 70.3, is my favorite distance to race and watch. It is also the home of some of the best battles I have seen in triathlon in recent years.

Please note that there are currently no official world records in triathlon. So, as I did for the Ironman records (link to my article), I will use the terms “fastest time” or simply “record”.

FASTEST 70.3 TIME – MEN

PlaceTimeNameYearRace
1.3:26:06Marten Van Riel202270.3 Dubai
2.3:27:54Daniel Baekkegard202270.3 Dubai
3.3:29:04Kristian Blummenfelt201870.3 Bahrain

As every triathlete who raced a 70.3 knows, the exact distance of a race can sometimes be a couple of miles shorter than the official distance (1.2 mi swim – 56 mi bike – 13.1 mi run). For this reason, I excluded the times when the distance was significantly shorter (example: Bahrain 2019).

Marten Van Riel currently has the fastest 70.3 time ever recorded, a 3:26:06 in Dubai 2022. To put his performance into perspective, here are his splits:

  • 22:49 swim (1:12 min/100m)
  • 1:53:28 bike (29.6 mph or 47.6 km/h)
  • 1:07:56 run (5:11 min/mi or 3:13 min/km)

As you can see, two of the fastest times were set in 2022. With more and more triathletes from the short course scene joining and the epic battles we have seen in the last months, I would not be surprised if those records are broken in the following years.

FASTEST 70.3 TIME – WOMEN

PlaceTimeNameYearRace
1.3:53:03Laura Philipp202270.3 Dubai
2.3:56:34Taylor Knibb202370.3 Boulder
3.3:56:55Daniela Ryf202270.3 Dubai

Laura Philipp has the fastest 70.3 time with a 3:53:03 in Dubai 2022.

Here are her splits per sport:

  • 26:28 swim (1:24 min/100m)
  • 2:04:52 bike (26.9 mph or 43.2 km/h)
  • 1:19:31 run (6:04 min/mi or 3:46 min/km)

She made a race recap on her Youtube channel. Here is the video:

70.3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Contrary to the Ironman full distance, which holds its world championship at Kona and now Nice (alternating men/women) every year, the 70.3 World Championship is set in a different location every year, generally on a different continent.

I like that format a lot because it doesn’t favor a specific type of triathlete, and at the same time, it allows the age groupers to see different race venues on the planet.

If you are interested in learning more about the times of amateur triathletes, have a look at this article: Average Half Ironman Time Per Age Group And Gender

For references, you can find those times on the official Ironman website or on obstri.com, where they are presented in an even more user-friendly way.