Can Lucy Charles-Barclay swim faster than a shark?

There’s no doubt about it. Triathlon’s top swimmers are speedy, and would leave most of us wallowing in their wake if we were to try and race them.

But how does their swim speed compare to that of other water dwellers? That’s a question we’ve been pondering, so we’ve spent an afternoon becoming experts on how fast sharks, penguins and other sea creatures can swim in the water.

In this instance, we’re going to compare them against the swim speed of one of the triathlon’s most impressive swimmers – Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay.

Whenever she’s racing, you can pretty much guarantee Lucy will be at the front of the field, and she currently holds the swim record at Kona. But just how fast can she swim? And is she fast enough to outpace a shark?

How fast can Lucy Charles-Barclay swim?

Before comparing her swim speed to some of the planet’s marine inhabitants, we first need to establish how fast Lucy swims.

To do so, we’ve looked at some of her quickest swims from recent events, plugged them into a calculator and established her average swimming speed across the distance. Here are the results:

• Ironman 70.3 Elsinore 2021: 1.9km in 22:42, resulting in an average speed of 5.02km/h
• PTO European Open 2023: 2km in 24:18, resulting in an average speed of 4.94km/h

Of course, they’re just average speeds, rather than top speeds. So we reached out to Lucy’s team for her best swim times in the pool.

A time of 27:43secs over 50m (freestyle) results in an impressive swim speed of 6.56km/h. Is that quick enough to outswim a shark?

How does that compare to a shark?

Well, it all depends on what type of shark we’re talking about. The shortfin mako is considered to be the fastest shark in the world and is capable of reaching top speeds in excess of 70km/h.

Needless to say, Lucy won’t be winning any races against this sharp-toothed animal any time soon. But what about other types of shark?

Great white sharks are also speedy operators in the water and are capable of hitting speeds of 50km/h, so it’s a no there.

However, there is one shark species that would struggle to keep up with the four-time Kona silver medallist…

Greenland sharks are thought to be the slowest sharks in the water, averaging speeds of just 1.2km/h. That means not only would Lucy leave one in the dust, but many age-groupers would, too.

What other sea creatures can Lucy Charles-Barclay outswim?

Seahorses are among the slowest animals in the sea, with an average speed of 0.0015km/h, so it’s fair to say most of us would beat one in a race.

Another animal Lucy would be likely to beat is a right whale, with one study reporting average swim speeds of 1.3km/h within its habitat or a mean net speed of 3.5km/h when moving between habitats.

She might also be able to beat emperor penguins over a 50m race, with the birds thought to swim at between 6-9km/h, though they can move much quicker than that if they choose to.

Their slower, smaller relatives, the blue penguin, can reach speeds of 6km/h, but average 2-4km/h, meaning they’ll struggle to keep up with Lucy when she’s swimming at full tilt.

Top image credit: Alexander Scheuber/Getty Images for Ironman; Unsplash