After an unforeseen twist on race morning shortened the professional swim to 1,000 meters, Sam Long and Grace Alexander capitalized with strong bike and run performances to take the victories.
Read the race analysis from the 2026 Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast with all the details that led to Sam Long and Grace Alexander taking home the win.
Updated May 9, 2026 11:34AM
Just three weeks after Ironman Texas, Sam Long (USA) once again showcased his bike-run strength, powering to victory at Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast. Long recorded the fastest bike split ever seen in an Ironman 70.3 before backing it up with the fifth-fastest run split of the day to secure the win by just over a minute.
On the women’s side, Grace Alexander (USA) faced an even tighter battle. After exiting the water with the second-fastest swim split, she surrendered the lead on the bike before reclaiming it on the run with one of the strongest performances of her career, narrowly holding off Vittoria Lopes (BRA) by just 20 seconds.
It had been several years since the professional men last raced in Panama City Beach, and since 2019 for the women. As a non-Pro Series event, the race featured a smaller professional field – 35 men and 15 women – with two 70.3 World Championship slots available, creating an opportunity for many athletes to secure a valuable top-five finish.
Many of the stronger swimmers likely relished the chance to race in a rare ocean swim with tougher conditions, offering an opportunity to gain time. However, athletes woke up on race morning to news that the professional swim had been shortened to 1,000 meters because of overnight swells creating strong currents.
It is not the first time this season a 70.3 swim has been altered, following the shortened swim at Ironman 70.3 Dallas at the start of the season. In last year’s edition of this race, the swim was canceled entirely for age-group athletes because of severe weather.
The Dallas decision sparked debate among professionals, many of whom argued that pros should have the opportunity to complete the full course under a different standard from age-group athletes to preserve the integrity of the race. That conversation may only grow louder if shortened swims continue becoming more common.
Nevertheless, the men’s race quickly turned into an all-out sprint from the water, with swim times dipping under 10 minutes. Greg Harper (USA) led the field out in 7:10, while 2023 champion Long – who reported he made the trip at the last minute – exited 1:22 behind 18 other athletes, including strong names like Marc Dubrick (USA) and Olympian Seth Rider (USA).
Over the next 30 miles, Long methodically overtook the entire group ahead of him to move into the lead. Initially, only Rider and Benjamin Zorgnotti (PPT) were able to stay with him before he eventually opened a 20-second advantage heading into T2.
Keeping in mind the effect of the shortened swim, Long’s bike split of 1:49:32 was still remarkable – the first sub-1:50 bike split ever recorded in an Ironman 70.3, averaging 30.25 mph across the flat course.
From there, Long maintained a steady 20 to 30-second gap over Rider throughout the run while Dubrick moved into third. A 1:10:38 half-marathon sealed the victory for the defending champion as Long celebrated with a fitting sprinkler dance in the rain. He now plans to race again next weekend at 70.3 Chattanooga. Rider finished second, with Dubrick rounding out the podium.
2026 Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast men’s results:
In the women’s race, Lopes unsurprisingly led the swim fresh off competing in a WTCS event in Samarkand just weeks earlier, with Alexander close behind. Both athletes likely would have benefited from a longer swim, but they still opened a gap of 30 seconds to two minutes over the remainder of the field, including top seed Danielle Lewis (USA), who exited 1:35 back.
Lewis, like Long, quickly moved through the field and into third within the opening 10 miles of the bike. By the 40-mile mark, she had completed the catch and moved into the lead, with only Alexander able to stay with her as Lopes lost significant time before T2.
Given her accomplished run background, Lewis appeared well-positioned for the win. However, she was still recovering from a hard crash at Ironman Texas three weeks earlier, when a nail punctured her tire. Lewis shared before the race that she “wasn’t totally sure if [she’d] race” while waiting for her injuries to heal and shared she had only returned to the time trial position a few days before the event.
Even so, the run initially unfolded perfectly for Lewis as she extended her lead by another 45 seconds over Alexander early on. But around the 5K mark, momentum shifted. Alexander reeled her in before the five-mile mark, while Lopes had already slashed her deficit from nearly four minutes down to just over two, setting up a dramatic finish.
In the end, Alexander ran just fast enough to hold off a charging Lopes by 20 seconds after Lopes overtook Lewis late in the race. Six years after winning the amateur title at the same event, the victory marked Alexander’s third career Ironman 70.3 win.
She now heads to Chattanooga looking to defend her title against a significantly deeper field expected to include the likes of Jackie Hering (USA) and Paula Findlay (CAN).
