Marlow Standard Distance Aquabike – Worlds Qualifier 31st May

31 May 2026 - By Anita Grainger

Anita Grainger took part in the Standard Distance Aquabike at Marlow (1500m swim, 40km bike). The swim was chaotic with 300 athletes lining up across the river. Anita managed to avoid the mele at the start by heading over to the left , sacrificing time for sanity. However, the turn point buoy was a single buoy ( usually 2 spread apart) and Anita had to contend with about 20 other swimmers vying for space. This time she managed to head off to the right after a bit of fisty cuffs. This settled down and the 2^nd lap was better.

After exiting via ladders into transition Anita headed off onto the rolling bike course dodging the pot holes on the first lane before heading up onto the main roads. The bike course was a rolling one from Marlow over to Henley and back doing 2 laps, split on the main part of the course before whizzing back down to Marlow dodging the pot holes again before running into transition to finish. Anita is within qualifying criteria for the worlds in Hamburg 2027 and should get a place later on in the year.

 

Total time 2hrs 4mins 06 secs.  Splits below

Swim   00:30:51 (including climbing up the ladder)

T1        00:01:39

Bike     01:31:36