Inside: 2025 Ironman Pro Series - Recap of How Matthews and Barnaby Won

Kat Matthews and Gregory Barnaby outlasted a strong field over eight months of strategic, consistent racing to claim the first Ironman Pro Series titles.

Opening: A Season That Asked More

The first full season of the Ironman Pro Series wasn’t won with one big result. It was won by managing a year of racing—picking the right events, bouncing back from setbacks, and staying close enough to the front to keep scoring big.

By the end of 2024, two athletes—Kat Matthews and Gregory Barnaby—stood out. They didn’t dominate every race. They didn’t always win. But they built smart campaigns that rewarded resilience, planning, and the ability to perform when it counted.

Kat Matthews: The Measured Climb

Kat Matthews began 2024 with a clear target: win the Ironman Pro Series and the World Championship in Nice. She came close to both.

She started her season strong at Ironman Texas, winning the race, taking the North American title and grabbing the full 5,000 points. A disqualification at Ironman Hamburg—for passing in a no-overtaking zone—was an early setback, but not one that derailed her year.

From there, she recalibrated. A win in Vitoria-Gasteiz and a second place in Tallinn kept her near the top of the standings. At the World Championship in Nice, Matthews went all-in. After pushing the pace on the bike and running shoulder-to-shoulder with Laura Philipp, she finished second. It wasn’t the win she came for, but it delivered more than 5,500 points—essential in the title race.

With one scoring race left, she travelled to New Zealand for the 70.3 World Championship in Taupō. She didn’t need to win—just stay within 35 minutes of the leader to clinch the title. She did more than that. Another second place sealed the Pro Series win, giving her a final total of 20,761 points.

Matthews earned $200,000 in bonus prize money and a season total of $363,000 from Ironman racing alone. More than that, she showed what the new format demands: bounce-back ability, planning, and a high floor even on off days.

Greg Barnaby: A Calculated Campaign

Gregory Barnaby didn’t start as the favourite. But by the end of the year, he was the one holding the trophy.

His season began in Spain with a third place at Ironman 70.3 Mallorca, finishing just 23 seconds behind the winner. It was a strong start, but not enough to secure his place in the standings. From there, he went long—literally.

At Ironman Cairns, he posted a sub-8-hour finish in a deep field, scoring over 4,200 points. He followed that with third in Frankfurt, beating Kristian Høgenhaug and adding more than 4,600 points. In Kona, at the Ironman World Championship, Barnaby delivered again—6th place, another sub-8, and a massive 5,251-point haul.

By then, he was in the top five overall. But he had one more card to play. At the 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship in Western Australia, he won—his first 70.3 title. The win bumped out his earlier Mallorca result and pushed him to the top of the leaderboard.

He still raced the 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, finishing 9th and gaining extra points to pad his lead. In the end, Barnaby tallied 19,097 points, took the title, and earned $254,750 for his season.

Barnaby didn’t win Kona. He didn’t win Frankfurt. But he kept showing up, scoring well and racing smart. That’s what the Pro Series now demands.