Pádraig Mallon, Ice Ironman
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. It is quite unusual for an athlete to be competitive in both the sprint races and distance events.
Athletes like 5-time Olympic gold medalist speed skater Eric Heiden or swimmers like Michael Phelps in the 100m freestyle and the 400m individual medley or Keri-Anne Payne in the 200m individual medley and the 10 km marathon swim are some examples who come to mind.
But it is truly someone special who can do both an Ice Mile and a full Ironman triathlon during their career or especially in one calendar year.
Those men and women are called…Ice Ironmen.
They have to have the grit to swim 1 mile in nearly frozen water and the ability to swim 2.4 miles (3.86 km), bike 112 miles (180.25 km), and run 26.2 miles (42.19 km) in a full Ironman. These two types of events could not be more difficult and demand totally different skill sets.
It is a lonely club of Ice Ironmen … with Pádraig Mallon as the first confirmed Ice Ironman in human history.
Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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