The Rise of RYF

Dominant. Relentless. Devoid of weakness. Since her long-course debut in 2014, Daniela Ryf has become one of the greatest Ironman athletes in history. But what can we learn from the Swiss star? We met the Kona course record holder to find out…

- Matt Baird

From Flora Duffy in Cozumel to Jan Frodeno’s Challenge Roth record and Ali Brownlee on Copacabana Drive, 2016 was full of awesome examples of multisport prowess on the world stage. For us, perhaps the greatest feat of endurance, tenacity and recovery came largely away from the worldwide media’s gaze in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday 24 July.

Needing only to complete the race to validate her Ironman World Championship spot, the 29-year-old Swiss Daniela Ryf – having only signed up to the event four days prior – smashed the course record by more than eight minutes with an 8:51:50 time that, including the men, was the 10th fastest overall performance of the day.

“My strategy was to go easy,” said Ryf – who grew up in rural Rumisberg (pop. 484) 50 miles from Zurich – after the race. “But Celine [Scharer] was going so well on the swim, I just had to follow. On the bike I decided to go hard, and on the run you can’t go easy when there are so many competitors.”

What makes Ryf’s achievement so remarkable is that she’d raced the 226km Challenge Roth just a week before, obliterating the field with an 8:22:04 overall split. It was the third-fastest female iron time in history and came within touching distance of Chrissie Wellington’s 8:18:13 iron-distance world record.

Ryf’s performance in Zurich speaks volumes not just about her endurance capabilities, but her powers of recovery, her aggressive style of racing and a hardened mindset that seems incapable of racing easy.

CHRISSIE COMPARISONS