Set in the popular sun-soaked resort of Marbella, the 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships was an opportunity not to be missed for those talented enough to gain selection to represent Team GB in their respective age groups. The line up included three Bournemouth AC members, with Emma Caplan, Will Newbery and Jack Davis all competing for their country.

The 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship was sponsored by Precision Fuel & Hydration, a company based in Christchurch which has had quite an association with Bournemouth AC over recent times. In a fact, a number of Bournemouth AC affiliated athletes work for Precision Hydration, including Jack Davis.

The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships is considered to be the pinnacle of the sport so there is a lot at stake for those competing. For many, it’s what they’ve been working towards all year.

Emma Caplan had competed for Great Britain numerous times in World and European Championships, particularly in her younger days when she had more freedom to travel. Since having children though, she hadn’t been able to get away as much, so although she could have qualified, she hadn’t competed much on the international stage.

She was back though for the 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships and was fully intending to embrace the experience and to do the best she could. Will Newbery and Jack Davis were also determined to do themselves, their teams and the country proud.

During her preparations for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, Emma won the Standard Distance race at Bournemouth International Triathlon. Putting in a really strong performance, she finished 15th overall and was fastest female. That was a good confidence booster for her ahead of her trip to Marbella.

Will Newbery warmed up for it by completing the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon in 1:18:30 which put him in 27th place. That was confirmation, if he needed it, that he was in good shape going into the IRONMAN 70.3 World Champs.

Jack Davis ran well in the Alresford 10k back in June, finishing in 37:31 on what was a very hilly course. He then went on to clock a 36:57 in the Totton 10k at the end of August. He also represented the club in the Southern Road Relays as well, running the first leg for the B team.

Completing the Swim in 40 minutes 13 seconds, Emma Caplan was well down the field at that stage. She’d come in as 1,079th female and 68th in the F50-54 category.

As soon as she got on the Bike though, she started eating up the places. In fact, she was 5th fastest in her category on the Bike in a time of 3 hours 7 minutes and 32 seconds.

It was a very hilly 55.7 mile course with around 5,000ft of elevation so quite a challenging route. Emma had impressively managed to climb up to 334th female position and 7th in the F50-54 division. That was an extraordinary ride.

That left her with just the 13 mile run to go. She was 12th fastest in her category on the Run, getting round in a time of 1:36:51. That moved her up into 325th female position 6th in the F50-54 division with an overall time of 5 hours 32 minutes and 49 seconds.

It was a tremendous effort from Emma and to place 6th in the world in her age group was quite some achievement. Sharon Schmidt-Mon was first in the F50-54 division in a time of 5:20:34, which made her 174th female overall. Then it was An Ravestijn of Belgium in 5:21:38 which put her 189th overall.

Bettina Steiger of Switzerland was 3rd in the category in a time of 5:24:08, which put her 220th female. Alexandra Rechel of Germany and Kelly Phuah of Australia finished within a second of each other in the battle for 4th place in the category, with Alexandra shading it in 5:27:45. They were 264th and 265th females overall.

Getting through the 2,000yd Swim in 28:50, Jack Davis was 412th male at that stage and 80th in the M30-34 division. On the Bike section, Jack was suffering from a back pain after the first climb which hampered him somewhat. Completing the ride in 2 hours 48 minutes and 30 seconds, Jack he’d dropped to 913th male and 194th in the category.

That left him with just the run left to try and gain some of those places back. He started off at 6:30 pace for the first few miles before dropping to around 6:50 pace for the next four. After that he posted a 6:56 for his 8th mile, a 7:08 for his 9th and a 6:58 for his 10th.

Clocking a 7:11 for his 11th mile, he then went through his 12th in 7:17 before closing it out with a 7:10 for his final split. That put his time for the Run at 1:29:18, which was a solid effort after the Swim and Cycle beforehand.

Moving him up to 900th male overall, he’d taken 191st place in the M30-34 division with an overall time of 4 hours 53 minutes and 56 seconds. That wasn’t a bad position to end up in a World Championships and it was an experience that he’ll never forget.

Will Newbery completed the Swim in 31:25, which put him 1,023 male and 50th in the M45-49 division. He then got through the brutally hilly Bike section in 2 hours 52 minutes and 52 seconds, which saw him move down to 1,227th male and 79th in his category.

On the Run, he went through the first mile in 6:40 and the second one in 6:33. He stayed at around 6:40 pace for the next four miles before clocking a 6:56 for his 8th mile. He then registered a 6:53 before picking it back up to 6:36 for his 10th mile.

After that he posted a 6:49 and then a 6:54 before finishing with a 6:58 for his last mile split. Completing the course in 1:27:46, he’d gained several places, moving up to 1,094th overall and 62nd in the M45-49 division.

His average pace for the run was 6:45 which was really strong after everything that had come before it. Will’s overall time for the event was 4 hours 58 minutes and 47 seconds.

Brit Lucy Charles-Barclay finished first female overall in a time of 4:14:54. She was fastest female in the Swim in 25:05 but lost a place on the Bike, which she completed in 2:29:41. She got the place back on the Run though, completing it in an amazing time of 1:17:14.

American Taylor Knibb was 2nd female in 4:17:55, with German Tanja Neubert taking 3rd in 4:22:07. Another Brit, Georgia Taylor-Brown was 4th female in 4:23:47. She was 2nd fastest on the Run in 1:17:30 which gained her five places.

Jess Learmonth was 7th female in 4:26:20 and Lizzie Rayner was 8th in 4:28:42. They are also both British. Lizzie was 4th fastest female on the Run in 1:19:46.

Natalie Green, who has trained with Bournemouth AC before was 14th fastest out of the British women in 5:11:57. She was 108th female overall and 18th in the F30-34 division.

Helen O’Neile, who is a member of Poole Runners and once ran for Bournemouth AC was 22nd fastest out of the British women. She finished in an overall time of 5:19:40 which put her 166th female and 17th in the F35-39 category.

Emma Caplan was 41st out the 163 ladies who represented Great Britain that day.

It was a battle between Belgian athlete Jelle Geens and Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt for the Men’s win and in the end, the Belgian edged it by three seconds. It was an incredible battle between the two, with Jelle clocking a time of 1:07:35 and Kristian registering a 1:17:54 for the Run.

Another Norwegian, Casper Stornes finished 3rd in 3:43:52 and his time of the Run was also a very quick 1:08:28. German Jonas Schlomburg took 4th place in 3:44:37, recording a time of 1:09:17 for the Run.

Cameron Main was the fastest Brit in the race, coming 37th in a time of 4 hours and 22 seconds. He got through the Swim in 22:50, the Bike in 2:20:14 and the Run in 1:14:59.

Ant Gritton, who’s also from the Precision Hydration crew, was 300th overall in 4:33:58 and Egdon Heath Harriers man Jon Churchill came 305th in 4:34:30. He gained 177 places on the Run, completing it in 1:18:18.

With so many good triathlon clubs and sports nutrition groups in the area, it’s not really a surprise that Bournemouth AC had some athletes out there competing on the world stage of a major triathlon event. They know that the Tuesday night track sessions will help them excel in the running part of the competition so its a no-brainer for them to come to Kings Park and seek out that potentially vital improvement.