Race Conditions
This year’s course in Zürich had a new run course, but the impact on the course rating has been minimal (run adjustment of -0:15, new run course rating of 0:14). Overall conditions have been typical as well, if anything the non-wetsuit swim for the Pros was a bit slower and the bike was a bit faster than in previous years.
Even without being aided by fast conditions, there were a few course records. Just one week after winning Challenge Roth with a fantastic 8:22, Daniela Ryf also won IM Switzerland (posting a new record for the shortest time between long-distance triathlon wins) in sub-9, beating the old course record by Karin Thürig from 2010 by almost ten minutes. (Karin’s bike course record still stands.) In addition Roman Deisenhofer set a new male bike course record of 4:26:15, improving the old time of 4:27:42 by Ronnie Schildknecht from 2012.
Kona Qualifying Implications
A lot of athletes were looking for a final push in their KPR total. Ronnie Schildknecht, Timo Bracht, Jan Van Berkel and David Plese secured a July slot, on the women’s side Emma Bilham and Ariane Monticelli are also safe. Daniela validated her Automatic Qualifier spot with the IM Switzerland win.
For the full rankings at the end of July, check out my post on the first July cutoff.
Male Race Results
Ronnie Schildknecht had a strong bike ride and an even better run to win his 9th IM Switzerland. Timo Bracht had a solid race including a strong run to finish second. Jan Van Berkel tried his best to go with Ronnie Schildknecht on the run, almost ran himself into the ground but still finished with a sub-3 run in third place.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected | Prize Money |
| 1 | Ronnie Schildknecht | SUI | 00:55:39 | 04:31:01 | 02:47:07 | 08:17:04 | -09:10 | US$ 10000 |
| 2 | Timo Bracht | GER | 00:53:17 | 04:33:02 | 02:54:34 | 08:24:13 | 02:44 | US$ 5000 |
| 3 | Jan Van Berkel | SUI | 00:52:56 | 04:33:37 | 02:59:23 | 08:29:12 | -16:28 | US$ 3250 |
| 4 | Roman Deisenhofer | GER | 00:55:41 | 04:26:15 | 03:07:08 | 08:32:58 | -25:07 | US$ 2500 |
| 5 | David Plese | SLO | 00:55:53 | 04:44:12 | 02:52:46 | 08:36:50 | -02:10 | US$ 1750 |
| 6 | Mauro Baertsch | SUI | 00:57:48 | 04:43:30 | 02:51:20 | 08:36:55 | -14:08 | US$ 1250 |
| 7 | Christian Brader | GER | 00:59:10 | 04:46:56 | 02:58:54 | 08:49:07 | -02:35 | US$ 750 |
| 8 | Patrick Jaberg | SUI | 00:57:50 | 04:42:01 | 03:05:16 | 08:49:39 | -07:09 | US$ 500 |
| 9 | Mike Schifferle | SUI | 01:01:43 | 04:41:53 | 03:00:21 | 08:50:28 | -09:42 | |
| 10 | Darby Thomas | FIN | 01:03:47 | 04:45:24 | 03:12:40 | 09:06:08 | 22:25 | |
| 11 | Nicholas Chase | USA | 00:55:44 | 04:43:49 | 03:36:53 | 09:21:06 | -01:43 | |
| 12 | Ivan Jezko | SVK | 01:03:57 | 04:57:30 | 03:37:55 | 09:44:54 | 14:01 | |
| 13 | Jan Hron | CZE | 01:07:59 | 05:18:21 | 03:16:57 | 09:48:23 | n/a | |
| 14 | Sebastian Pedraza | ITA | 01:01:51 | 05:06:07 | 03:46:27 | 09:58:35 | 49:45 | |
| 15 | Lukas Polan | CZE | 01:12:05 | 05:28:14 | 03:41:53 | 10:27:15 | 39:08 | |
| 16 | Gilian Oriet | SUI | 01:01:55 | 05:03:19 | 04:33:12 | 10:43:05 | 57:03 | |
| Philipp Koutny | SUI | 00:55:37 | 04:31:04 | DNF | ||||
| Markus Fachbach | GER | 00:55:02 | 04:33:26 | DNF | ||||
| Manuel Kueng | SUI | 00:50:41 | 04:44:21 | DNF | ||||
| Fabio Carvalho | BRA | 00:53:05 | 04:44:45 | DNF | ||||
| David Naesvik | SWE | 00:57:59 | 04:46:26 | DNF | ||||
| Matthias Epping | GER | 00:55:48 | 04:48:45 | DNF | ||||
| Emanuele Ciotti | ITA | 00:55:55 | 04:55:14 | DNF | ||||
| Johan Kaerner | SWE | 01:01:48 | 04:55:40 | DNF | ||||
| Cyril Pochon | FRA | 00:55:18 | 05:10:48 | DNF | ||||
| Martin Charles | FRA | 00:55:47 | 05:12:06 | DNF | ||||
| Marek Nemcik | SVK | 01:15:51 | 06:15:30 | DNF | ||||
| Balazs Csoke | HUN | 00:49:53 | DNF | |||||
| Gergö Molnar | HUN | 00:53:02 | DNF | |||||
| Fraser Cartmell | GBR | 00:53:12 | DNF |
Female Race Results
Daniela Ryf swam with Celine Schärer, one of the fastest Ironman swimmers, then rode away on the bike and controlled her effort on the run. Second place went to Emma Balham with a strong bike and solid run – her second second place in her second Ironman. Michi Herlbauer was working hard all day taking the last spot on the podium.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected | Prize Money |
| 1 | Daniela Ryf | SUI | 00:53:16 | 04:46:30 | 03:07:31 | 08:51:50 | -00:55 | US$ 10000 |
| 2 | Emma Bilham | SUI | 00:57:41 | 05:03:58 | 03:16:36 | 09:21:48 | -06:31 | US$ 5000 |
| 3 | Michaela Herlbauer | AUT | 01:01:05 | 05:07:02 | 03:15:37 | 09:28:12 | 04:14 | US$ 3250 |
| 4 | Celine Schaerer | SUI | 00:53:14 | 05:13:07 | 03:24:57 | 09:35:26 | 07:08 | US$ 2500 |
| 5 | Ariane Monticeli | BRA | 01:03:58 | 05:11:16 | 03:20:05 | 09:40:07 | -01:18 | US$ 1750 |
| 6 | Karen Thibodeau | CAN | 00:56:53 | 05:15:47 | 03:23:25 | 09:40:38 | -10:23 | US$ 1250 |
| 7 | Corina Hengartner | SUI | 01:05:10 | 05:14:01 | 03:22:31 | 09:46:19 | -17:50 | US$ 750 |
| 8 | Alyssa Godesky | USA | 01:03:20 | 05:16:53 | 03:22:15 | 09:47:20 | -24:35 | US$ 500 |
| 9 | Natascha Badmann | SUI | 01:05:08 | 05:02:18 | 03:35:03 | 09:47:21 | 16:30 | |
| 10 | Kristin Moeller | GER | 01:12:24 | 05:24:31 | 03:09:51 | 09:52:16 | 19:05 | |
| 11 | Diane Luethi | SUI | 00:58:02 | 05:21:36 | 03:38:07 | 10:02:48 | n/a | |
| 12 | Petra Krejcova | CZE | 01:03:48 | 05:21:40 | 03:40:09 | 10:09:43 | 09:42 | |
| 13 | Regula Rohrbach | SUI | 01:01:36 | 05:03:04 | 04:02:25 | 10:12:53 | 29:03 | |
| 14 | Jana Candrova | CZE | 01:13:13 | 05:29:54 | 03:36:43 | 10:25:34 | -01:28 | |
| Lauren Parker | AUS | 00:55:10 | 05:37:20 | DNF | ||||
| Lauren Capone | USA | 00:59:07 | 05:34:42 | DNF |