Lucy Charles-Barclay: The Evolution of a Champion

We analyze how his performance was in his participation in the IRONMAN Hawaii

October 20, 2023Updated on October 20, 2023

3 reading minutes

@kaidenlieto / Lucy Charles at the finish line of IRONMAN Kona

This 2023 the British triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay has broken her streak of second places to be crowned World Cup champion IRONMAN of Hawaii.

This triumph not only marks a milestone in his career, but is also the culmination of years of effort, dedication and love for this sport.

Lucy trains at the facilities of the Club La Santa in Lanzarote, an ideal place for training all year round. Also this year celebrates its 40th anniversary

Table of Contents

Historic context

Since his first participation in Kona in 2017, Lucy Charles-Barclay He has been close to the title on several occasions.

This year, her perseverance and dedication have finally paid off, leading her to first place on the podium.

Comparison chart holdings in Kona

Year	Position	Total time	Swimming	Cycling	Foot Race
2017	2	08:59:38	00:48:48	04:58:19	03:08:09
2018	2	08:36:34	00:48:14	04:38:10	03:05:50
2019	2	08:46:44	00:49:02	04:47:20	03:05:59
2022	2	08:41:36	00:50:56	04:43:11	03:02:48
2023	1	08:24:31	00:49:36	04:32:29	02:57:38

Evolution Chart

The graph shows the evolution of Lucy Charles-Barclay's total time in the IRONMAN World Championships from 2017 to 2023.

Graph of the evolution of Lucy Charles' times at the IRONMAN Kona

Times in each participation

Ironman 2017 World

Segment	Time	Min x 100 meters	Km / h	Min/km
Swimming	48:48	1:16	N/A	N/A
Cycling	4:58:19	N/A	36.23	N/A
Race on foot	3:08:09	N/A	N/A	4.45

Ironman 2018 World

Segment	Time	Min x 100 meters	Km / h	Min/km
Swimming	48:14	1:15	N/A	N/A
Cycling	4:38:10	N/A	38.87	N/A
Race on foot	3:05:50	N/A	N/A	4.40

Ironman 2019 World

Segment	Time	Min x 100 meters	Km / h	Min/km
Swimming	49:02	1:16	N/A	N/A
Cycling	4:47:20	N/A	37.64	N/A
Race on foot	3:05:59	N/A	N/A	4.40

Ironman 2022 World

Segment	Time	Min x 100 meters	Km / h	Min/km
Swimming	50:56	1:19	N/A	N/A
Cycling	4:43:11	N/A	38.15	N/A
Race on foot	3:02:48	N/A	N/A	4.33

Ironman 2023 World

Segment	Time	Min x 100 meters	Km / h	Min/km
Swimming	49:36	1:17	N/A	N/A
Cycling	4:32:29	N/A	39.71	N/A
Race on foot	2:57:38	N/A	N/A	4.21

Now let's analyze each segment separately.

Evolution in the Swimming segment

This graph shows the evolution of Lucy Charles-Barclay's swimming in Kona

Evolution in the Lucy Charles Swimming segment in Kona

Lucy Charles-Barclay has proven to be one of the strongest swimmers on the IRONMAN circuit.

In her first participation in the 2017 World Cup, Lucy left the water with a time of 48:48, which is equivalent to 1:16 minutes per 100 meters.

In the most recent event in 2023, he achieved a time of 49:36, or 1:17 minutes per 100 meters.

Although his time in 2023 was slightly slower than his debut, it is still one of the best marks in swimming, allowing him to have a crucial advantage from the start of the event.

Evolution in the segment Cycling

This graph shows Lucy Charles-Barclay's cycling evolution in Kona. Green: time, yellow average speed

Evolution in the Lucy Charles cycling segment in Kona

In cycling, Lucy's evolution has been remarkable. In 2017, she completed the cycling segment with a time of 4:58:19, giving her an average speed of 36.23 km/h.

In 2023, he significantly improved his time, completing the segment in 4:32:29 with an average speed of 39.71 km/h.

Evolution in the running segment

This graph shows the evolution of Lucy Charles-Barclay's run in Kona, green time, purple medium pace.

Evolution in the Lucy Charles running segment in Kona

Lucy has also shown steady improvement in running.

In 2017, he finished this segment with a time of 3:08:09, with a pace of 4:45 minutes per kilometer. At the 2023 World Cup, he achieved a time of 2:57:38, improving his pace to 4:21.

This improvement in his running performance has been crucial to securing his first world title, especially in this last part of the race.

It is evident that Lucy Charles-Barclay has worked hard in each segment to improve her times and overall performance, ultimately leading to her winning her first world title in 2023.

Records and Achievements

Lucy Charles-Barclay Not only did he set a new record in Kona with a total time of 8:24:31, breaking the previous record of 8:26:18 achieved by Daniela Ryf in 2018, but has also left his mark during all his participations in Kona.

At swimming segment, Lucy holds the fastest time recorded in 2018 with 48:14, and also appears on the list of the fastest times in 2017 and 2019.

At Cycling, her best recorded time is 4:38:10 in 2018, which places her in the third place on the list of fastest times.

Although has not broken the record in the foot race, his constant improvement in this segment has been a crucial factor in his overall success and his first world title at the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona.