A College Student Completed an Ironman on Six Continents Before Turning 22
4 min read · RealCase summary
Taeyoung Lee, a 21-year-old Northwestern University computer science major set to graduate in 2026, spent 11 months completing an Ironman on all six inhabited continents while carrying a full course load, training about 14 hours a week across running, biking, and swimming.
He started in Arizona on November 17, 2024, racing the Paradox Ironman in unusually cold swim conditions, then flew to New Zealand for a March 1, 2025 race where his luggage was delayed and he had to piece together borrowed and rented gear. Just 29 days later, on March 30, 2025, he raced in South Africa — his slowest time of the six.
He posted his fastest finish in Brazil on June 1, 2025, pushing through mental fatigue, then raced in Sweden on August 16, 2025, the only event his family attended in person. He closed out the challenge on September 28, 2025 in his birth country of South Korea, completing the full 2.4-mile swim/112-mile bike/26.2-mile run distance on all six continents and becoming the youngest person to do so.
"Triathlon is really like a bug," Lee said. "Once it bites you, you just keep going all in."
Key takeaways
- ›Completed his first full Ironman triathlon in 2024, having only started triathlon training in 2023
- ›Trained about 14 hours a week across swimming, biking, and running while carrying a full undergraduate course load in computer science
- ›Finished his sixth Ironman, in South Korea, at 21 years and 167 days old — becoming the youngest person to complete an Ironman triathlon on six continents
Original source
Read the original (Northwestern Magazine)
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