Sean Conway
Conway on 22 August 2013, during his Swimming Britain challenge
Born (1981-04-06) 6 April 1981
Harare, Zimbabwe
OccupationUltra endurance athlete
Known for105 Ironmans in a row, first person to swim the length of Britain, world's longest triathlon, fastest to cycle across Europe self supported, cycled around the world
Websiteseanconway.com

Sean Conway (born 1981) is a Zimbabwean ultra endurance athlete, author of 6 books [1] and motivational speaker. He broke the world record for completing 105 Ironmans in 105 days.[2] He was the first person to swim the length of Britain,[3] is the only person to have completed a length of Britain triathlon,[4] has completed the world's longest triathlon of 4200 miles[5] and has the world record for the fastest self supported cycle across Europe.[6]

Early and personal life

Conway was born in Harare, Zimbabwe,[7][8] on 6 April 1981.[9] He attended Hilton College in South Africa.[10]

He lived in Cheltenham[9] for a number of years before moving to the Lake District in 2016. In 2020 he moved to Wales with his wife Caroline and two sons.[11]

He earns his living as an adventurer, author and public speaker.[12][13]

Swimming

Conway during his successful attempt to become the first person in history to swim from Land's End to John o' Groats

Starting on 30 June 2013, Conway set out to swim from Land's End in the south-west of Great Britain, to John o' Groats in the north, travelling up the west coast of Great Britain and via the east coast of Ireland.[14] He completed the swim on 11 November,[9] the first person to do so.[8][9][14] He swam 900 miles (1,400 km), in 135 days, 90 of which were spent in the water, the others avoiding contrary tides, resting, and avoiding bad weather,[9] sometimes ashore and sometimes on his support yacht.[8][14] He grew a thick beard to help prevent jellyfish stinging his face.[9]

He used the achievement to raise money for the charity War Child.[9]

Triathlon

Conway became the first person to complete an "ultimate triathlon" when he finished running from John O' Groats to Land's End,[15] having already cycled and swum the entire way before. The run was made into a two-part documentary called Sean Conway: Running Britain for Discovery Channel UK.[16] Conway completed the "ultimate triathlon" unsupported, without the support of a team or lifeboats.[17]

In 2016 Conway set the world record for the world's longest triathlon, a 4,200-mile journey around the coast of Britain.[18] This was made into a documentary now on Amazon Prime called Sean Conway on the Edge.[19] This record has since been broken by Jonas Deichmann.[20]

In 2023 Conway broke the world record for the most Ironman Triathlons completed in a row. He completed 105 Ironmans in 105 days,[21] surpassing James Lawrence's record of 101.[22]

Cycling

Conway took the record for the fastest, unsupported crossing of Europe by bicycle[23] in March 2018. Starting in Cabo de Roca on the west coast of Portugal, he cycled nearly 4,000 miles, finishing at the Russian town of Ufa in 24 days, 18 hours and 39 minutes. The movie Europe or Bust[24] covers this trip. The record was superseded by Leigh Timmis[25] in a fully supported attempt later the same year.

Conway cycled around the world in 2012 in an attempt to break the world record. However, his attempt came to an abrupt end when he was run over in America.[26] He continued, after three weeks of recovery, to raise money for Solar Aid, returning to London 155 days later.

in 2008 Conway cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats, which took him 25 days. He wrote a book about his journey.[27]

Running

Conway has run the length of Britain, which took 44 days.[28] His journey was made into a documentray for Discovery Channel called Sean Conway Running Britain.[29]

Conway has run across Iceland, which took 10 days.[30] There is a short film on Youtube about his run.[31]

He ran a marathon in each of the UK national parks consecutively: 15 marathons in 15 days.[32]

He also ran 280 miles from Conwy Castle in North Wales to Castle Conway on the west of Ireland.[33]

The 496 Challenge

Conway came up with the now global challenge called The 496 Challenge. The concept is to run the day of the month in kilometres. On the first of the month, one runs 1 km, on the second, 2 km, and so on, ending the month with a 31 km run. The ends up with a total of 496 km run.[34]

Books

  • 2012 - Cycling Lands End to John O'Groats[35]
  • 2014 - Cycling the Earth[36]
  • 2015 - Running Britain[37]
  • 2016 - Hell and High Water[38]
  • 2018 - Big Mile Cycling[39]
  • 2019 - The Chronicles of William Wilder - Tempura's Treasure[40]

Documentaries

  • Sean Conway Running Britain - Discovery Channel (now on Amazon Prime)[41]
  • Sean Conway On the Edge - Discovery Channel (now on Amazon Prime)[42]
  • Sean Conway Europe or Bust - Amazon Prime[43]
  • The 496 Challenge - YouTube short film[44]
  • National Park Marathons - YouTube short film[45]
  • Running Across Iceland - YouTube short film[31]

Public speaking

Conway does motivational speaking, and has given a TEDx talk[46][47]

Championing youth sport

Conway encourages youth sport through the True Venture Foundation.[48] He raised over £100,000 for True Venture during his 105 Ironmans world record attempt. He received a personal letter from Prince William about his efforts in youth sport.[49]

References

  1. ↑ "Sean Conway: books, biography, latest update". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  2. ↑ "Sean Conway ends tri challenge after 105 irons in 105 days". 220 Triathlon. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "Sean Conway becomes first to swim length of UK". The Guardian. Press Association. 11 November 2013. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Adventurer Sean Conway completes 'ultimate triathlon'". BBC News. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Khaleeli, Homa (6 February 2017). "Sean Conway, Britain's wildest adventurer: 'This is such a cool island'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  6. ↑ Andrew (11 May 2018). "Sean Conway: 'The Fastest, Unsupported Crossing Of Europe By Bicycle' (Again)". CyclingEurope.org. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  7. ↑ Wriedt, Christian (15 June 2022). "Ultra-Triathlon: 102 Langdistanzen in 102 Tagen". tri-mag.de (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 "Sean Conway becomes first to swim length of UK". The Guardian. Press Association. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Land's End to John O'Groats swimmer Sean Conway reaches end". BBC Online. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "OH swims length of Britain". Hilton College. Archived from the original on 23 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Sean Conway, the 'ordinary' man breaking the triathlon world record". The Telegraph. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Conway, Sean. "My life as a photographer". Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  13. ↑ Conway, Sean. "Talks - Sean Conway - Endurance Adventuring". Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 de Castella, Tom (12 November 2013). "Sean Conway: How hard is it to swim the length of Britain?". BBC Online. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "Adventurer ends 'ultimate triathlon'". 4 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Watch Sean Conway Running Britain Season 1 | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  17. ↑ Adventure, Homegrown. "The World's Longest Triathlon". Homegrown Adventure. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  18. ↑ Khaleeli, Homa (6 February 2017). "Sean Conway, Britain's wildest adventurer: 'This is such a cool island'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Watch Sean Conway On The Edge - Season 1 | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  20. ↑ "Jonas Deichmann: Meet the man who swam, bike and ran the world". 220 Triathlon. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "Meet The Record Breaker Who Completed 105 Iron-Distance Triathlons In a Row". Men's Health. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  22. ↑ Jenny, Kristin (15 June 2021). "The Iron Cowboy Conquers 101 Iron-Distance Triathlons in 101 Days". Triathlete. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  23. ↑ "New World Record: Fastest Crossing of Europe by Bicycle, Sean Conway". Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  24. ↑ "Sean Conway's Europe or Bust". Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Leigh Timmis sets new record for cycling across Europe in just 16 days". Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Round-the-world cyclist Sean Conway vows to carry on after being hit by truck in Arkansas". road.cc. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  27. ↑ Conway, Sean (18 December 2012). Land's End to John O'Groats: The ride that started it all. Mortimer Lion Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9574497-3-2.
  28. ↑ "Round-the-world cyclist Sean Conway completes unique end-to-end triathlon". road.cc. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  29. ↑ "Watch Sean Conway Running Britain Season 1 | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  30. ↑ Clo (7 May 2023). "Film: Running Across Iceland - an epic Icelandic coast-to-coast". Now On Earth - Adventure Out. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  31. 1 2 Running Across Iceland, retrieved 19 September 2023
  32. ↑ "Exploring Britain's National Parks". OS GetOutside. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  33. ↑ "Conway2Conway". SEAN CONWAY. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  34. ↑ "The 496 Challenge". SEAN CONWAY. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  35. ↑ Conway, Sean (27 November 2012). Land's End to John O'Groats: The ride that started it all. Mortimer Lion Publishing.
  36. ↑ Conway, Sean (7 July 2016). Cycling the Earth: A Life-changing Race Around the World. Ebury Digital.
  37. ↑ Conway, Sean (3 April 2018). Running Britain: The final leg of the world's first length of Britain triathlon. Mortimer Lion Publishing.
  38. ↑ Conway, Sean (5 March 2015). Hell and High Water: My Epic 900-Mile Swim from Land’s End to John O'Groats. Ebury Digital.
  39. ↑ Conway, Sean (8 April 2019). Big Mile Cycling: Ten Years. 60000 Miles. One Dream. Mortimer Lion Publishing.
  40. ↑ Conway, Sean (11 October 2020). Tempura's Treasure. Mortimer Lion Publishing.
  41. ↑ "Watch Sean Conway Running Britain Season 1 | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  42. ↑ "Watch Sean Conway On The Edge - Season 1 | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  43. ↑ "Watch Sean Conway's 'Europe or Bust' | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  44. ↑ The 496 Challenge with Sean Conway, retrieved 19 September 2023
  45. ↑ The National Parks Marathons - a Sean Conway Challenge, retrieved 19 September 2023
  46. ↑ Extreme Challenge: Sean Conway at TEDxYouth@Manchester 2014 January, retrieved 19 September 2023
  47. ↑ "Sean Conway". www.caroline-rose.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  48. ↑ "True Venture". True Venture. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  49. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
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