Ironman World Championship 2024: Patrick Lange on why opening seconds will be critical in 8hr contest

The swim might only make up a fraction of the total distance of an Ironman race, but Germany’s two-time world champion Patrick Lange acknowledges that the opening 3.8km is “make or break” for his chances of success on the Big Island on Saturday.

While the 38-year-old believes it could be “the closest Kona ever, the most exciting race we have had in decades,” his experience of the 2022 race – the last time the men raced in Hawaii – along with the more recent tribulations of Ironman Frankfurt, are stark reminders of what can happen if the swim doesn’t go to plan and he fails to make the front pack. 

Lange arrived at the 2022 race following a bike crash in February and was subsequently sick in race week. At the start of the race in Kailua Bay, he was positioned on the feet of eventual champion Gustav Iden at the rear of the 19-strong swim pack, but then saw the race move away from him. 

“I was on Gustav’s feet until the turnaround point, then I just f***** it up,” he says. “I’d had shoulder surgery and was lacking the kilometres, because normally if I’m in the pack I will not get dropped.”

Despite a fourth-best 2:41:58 marathon that ran Lange up to a 10th place finish, the red-hot pace set by Sam Laidlow and his pursuers at the front of the bike had inflicted the damage. Lange was left 15min short of the podium.

While Lange’s compromised condition means he doesn’t place too much weight on the 2022 contest (he also picked up a penalty on the bike leg), a more recent example of his eighth-place finish in the Ironman European Championship in August gives additional context to how critical being in the front pace line can be to the overall result.

“You are always as good as your last race,” he explains. “In Frankfurt, I messed up the swim big time. I positioned myself pretty poorly and was in the middle of a field of 100 athletes for the beach start. I’ve pretty short legs, and running into the water is always a bit of a headache for me.”

Lange exited the swim in 25th place and more than 4min behind the leader in a race eventually won by Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt. The knock-on effect to the bike ride was telling.

“I had a personal best in terms of watts,” he explains, also citing that USA’s Sam Long said he produced a record power output but finished in 22nd. “I was carrying the second group all the way, but had no chance of catching up with the front pack. 

“I think that if I had been out with Kristian, I would be able to follow the group with 20 watts less than I had to put out in the second group. So, yes, the swim is super important, especially if it happens to be a windy day in Kona.”

To be more specific still, it is the moments following the cannon firing on the pier that can make the difference. “I normally don’t drop out of [swim] groups, but my weakness is the takeout speed and first 400m,” he says. “It’s a big area of focus for me and one of the most important topics I want to get right in Kona.” 

Where he positions himself for the deep water start also has a bearing. “You have to be aware of the paddle boarders and need to be ready to kind of dive start, to be mentally ready for anything that can come up. Also, the fighting! At least now the field kind of knows each other, as we race more often against each other than we used to five years ago.

“You know where the current is and the most direct line and then as soon as you get to the start line you have to be a little bit flexible and see, is the right guy to my side? You look to find your swimming buddy. For example, if I’m next to Braden [Currie], I know he has a great takeaway speed and he won’t punch me intentionally. I’m not an aggressive guy, so I would never be the first one to start a fight. I know how to fight back, but try to keep it fair.”

Lange’s familiar build-up was in the Woodlands in Texas, where he was belatedly crowned Ironman North American champion for a third time following May’s race and Mexican Tomas Rodriguez’s subsequent failed drugs test.

This visit was a lot less dramatic. “Pretty boring, just as you want it to be,” Lange says. “Nothing spectacular and pretty much all green in Training Peaks [the platform he uses to monitor his progress]. I just had a little calf niggle three weeks ago, but it was just the muscle being a bit tight for three days.”

Lange is also in a relatively new coaching set-up having split with his coach of five years, Bjorn Geesmann, in August. The switch to cycling-specialist Ben Reszel has seen more intensity, lower volume and easier ‘rest’ days. 

“I’m doing details differently,” he continues. “I think it’s super important not to throw the system that has been working pretty well overboard. The bike training has been a little more specific towards race dynamics, a little bit more V02 Max work, and a little more race speed and position. At the same time there is one more day of rest. I can see the idea behind Ben’s training and it makes absolute sense to me and so far it’s been working really well.”

Rest is relative, of course. Lange says that previously a rest day at this time of year would still constitute three sessions, a 5km swim, 90min bike ride and strength and conditioning work, for example. Now he says it might be that he only swims. 

Out of season it’s treated differently. “If we’re talking December, January or February, I love my rest days. I have at least one day a week where I’ll do nothing, maybe just a little bit of stretching or going to the physio. But taking time to recover properly is important.”

The omens for a headline-making performance on the Big Island look promising too, after two athletes Reszel works with, Hayden Wilde (as an adviser) and Jelle Geens, had spectacular success on the weekend in Torremolinos and Las Vegas. Reszel also coaches Kiwi Ironman athletes Braden Currie and Hannah Berry, 

While being crowned Ironman world champion for a third time to draw level with Jan Frodeno would be the dream, Lange says the podium is his goal. 

“Four times I’ve finished on the podium and that’s what I’m aiming for. Of course, the political answer would be I want 100% out of my performance, but to be honest, you can be 100% but if you interpret the race dynamics the wrong way you can end up 15th. You have to go with the race dynamic to extract the most from the race.”

He has an additional incentive to perform because he’s also handily ranked in fourth place in the Ironman Pro Series rankings, and while there are several permutations, knows that a bumper points haul can put him in prime position to land the $200,000 cheque for topping the standings. The Pro Series tagline, Every Second Matters, encapsulates a format that sees a point deducted from the available total for every second you finish behind the winner.

“You can only do what you can do,” he admits. “I talked about it with someone and we agreed, do not look at it, it’s a waste of energy. Just go to every race and race as hard as you can and at the end you’ll find out.”