Hidde Weersma's HYROX World Record Split Times — The Numbers Behind His 52:42 Finish

The 24-year-old Dutch strength & conditioning coach became the first athlete ever to break 53 minutes in the men's pro division. Here's how every second unfolded.

On March 20, at Olympia London, Hidde Weersma's time meant something extraordinary. The 24-year-old Dutchman crossed the finish line at the Hyrox EMEA Regional Championships in 52 minutes and 42 seconds, shattering the previous men's pro world record of 53:15 set by Alexander Roncevic in Hamburg last October. He became, in the process, the first man in the history of the sport to break the 53-minute barrier. And he did it in only his third Elite 15 race.

World Record Time - 52:42

Record Margin - 33s

Avg. Run Pace - 3:45/km

There were early lead changes: Sean Noble went out fast, Harry Thompson surged to second at the sled push, and for the first half it looked like anyone's contest. But Weersma seized control at the burpee broad jumps and held it through six straight segments of pitiless effort.

The Final Run:

Weersma led heading into the final station, but on that eighth and last run, reigning world champion Tim Wenisch, the German veteran who has been at or near the top of every major Hyrox event for years, overtook him. Wenisch arrived at the wall balls three seconds ahead. He finished the hundred reps first. On paper, for roughly ninety seconds, it looked like Tim Wenisch had won.

Except Wenisch had accumulated 30 seconds of penalties during the burpee broad jumps earlier in the race, which meant he had to serve time in the penalty box before his result could be finalized. Those thirty seconds were the crack in the door through which Weersma stepped, crossed the line, and entered the record books.

Wenisch, for what it's worth, still finished in 53:00 flat. Also under the old world record. The depth of this field is a story unto itself: third-place finisher Tomas Tvrdik clocked 53:18, the fifth-fastest time in Hyrox history, and that was only good enough for bronze.

Hidde Weersma's Complete Hyrox World Record Split Times

Run 1 (1 km): 3:27

1,000m Ski Erg: 3:36

Run 2 (1 km): 3:33

50m Sled Push: 2:10

Run 3 (1 km): 3:29

50m Sled Pull: 2:48

Run 4 (1 km): 3:41

80m Burpee Broad Jump: 2:09

Run 5 (1 km): 3:34

1,000m Row: 3:49

Run 6 (1 km): 4:01

200m Farmer's Carry: 1:21

Run 7 (1 km): 3:50

100m Sandbag Lunges: 2:51

Run 8 (1 km): 4:27

100 Wall Balls: 4:05

Total Run Time: 29:53 Total Station Time: 22:49 Avg. Run Pace: 3:45/km

What the Splits Actually Tell Us

The first five runs (3:27, 3:33, 3:29, 3:41, 3:34) sit in a tight ~14 second window, which means his baseline aerobic pace under fatigue is extremely stable, not surging-and-dying.

The first true drop-off is run 6 at 4:01, and it comes immediately after the 1,000 m row, confirming that’s the station that finally forces a meaningful pace concession rather than the sleds or burpees.

Run 8 at 4:27, after 100 m sandbag lunges, is the only “blown up” split, which says he held composure until the final combo and then accepted a controlled fade to secure the record.

Where the Fatigue Sets In — and Where It Doesn't

The fact that the sled push, sled pull, and burpee broad jumps do not correspond to big slowdowns in the subsequent run implies his muscular endurance for heavy concentric leg work is a non-weakness, maybe even a signature strength.

The only systemic-crush signal is the row → run 6 pairing, which suggests that long-duration, high-output cyclical efforts (row) are a larger limiter for him than short, brutal pushes and carries.

The last run’s drop after the lunges suggests he is willing to “overspend” on the final strength station, trusting that he can survive a slower closing run and still hold the record.

For a competitor, the obvious attack points are the row and the final lunge–run sequence; matching him on sleds/burpees or farmers carry is less realistic because those are already near ceiling for the event.

For training, his profile tells you that world-record pacing is built on:

• Very stable sub-threshold run speed for five straight kilometers under work.

• High-power but economical sled work and burpees.

• Specific durability for row → run and lunge → run transitions, where even he finally pays a visible price.

Who Is Hidde Weersma?

If you haven't heard the name before this week, you're not alone, and that's partly the point. Weersma grew up in Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, where he bounced between track and field, soccer, and eventually triathlon. He studied Human Movement Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

He now works as a strength and conditioning coach for the Dutch Olympic team at Papendal, the country's premier athletic training facility. He's also a two-time Hyrox Under-24 world champion, the creator of a coaching program called LO:HYROX, and a PUMA-sponsored athlete. He has competed in over fifty Hyrox races across eleven different divisions. The man treats the sport the way some people treat stamp collecting: with obsessive thoroughness and an alarming level of commitment.

The triathlon background matters here, and Weersma has spoken about it openly. The thing that translates most directly from triathlon to Hyrox, he's said, is "compromised running" — the ability to keep producing efficient, fast running form when every other system in your body is screaming at you to please, for the love of god, stop. Five years of running off the bike in triathlons, it turns out, is excellent preparation for running between sled pushes and rowing machines.

A World Record Dedicated to His Father

After the race, Weersma gave an interview that reframed the entire performance. His voice broke as he spoke about his father, who had attended his race in Hamburg last year — aware, at that point, that it would likely be the last time he'd be there to watch. His father passed away in November 2025.

"In the last few weeks we spoke a lot and he said he was really proud of me and knew I was going to go far in this sport. To win my first elite race, to do this, it means so much. And I just miss him."

Hidde Weersma, post-race interview, Olympia London

It is, I think, worth sitting with that for a moment. The fastest Hyrox performance in history — the sub-53, the 33-second margin, the farmer's carry that defied the laws of accumulated fatigue — was not, in the end, a story about splits or pacing strategy or VO2 max. It was a kid who missed his dad, running and pushing and pulling and lunging his way through a building in West London, trying to honor the person who first told him he had something special.

That's what the numbers don't show you. And it's what makes them matter.

What Comes Next in the HYROX 2026 Season

Weersma's world record crowns him the 2026 Hyrox EMEA champion, and he's now locked in as a qualifier for the Hyrox World Championships in Stockholm later this season. The field there will include Wenisch, Roncevic, the surging American Cole Learn, and Australian Dylan Scott — along with the third-place finisher from London, Tvrdik, who has earned his own qualification. There is also a remaining Elite 15 Major in Warsaw before Stockholm, which means the record Weersma just set could, conceivably, fall again before the season ends.

But for now, 52:42 stands alone. The first sub-53. Where talent and the kind of preparation that only comes from a person who has made the study of human performance both his profession and his obsession.

At Primitive x SwoleAF in Garden Grove, we run HYROX-specific programming every single week. Sled pushes. Sled pulls. Rowing. Wall balls. Lunges. All of it. Coached. Structured. With people who are training for the same thing you are.

Your first class is free. No commitment. No pitch. No nonsense. You show up, you train, you decide if it's for you.

If it is — welcome. If it's not — you still got a free workout and you leave better than you came in. There is literally no downside.

[Come take a free class]