‘I have painful illnesses — swimming in the sea every day makes them bearable’

My journey into triathlon began in 2014 when I was 45. Four years prior to this I was trying to raise some money for the Starr Trust, a charity I founded which supports young people. 

My plan was to run my first marathon, but it proved difficult to train because of frequent arthritic pain. As my training was along the seafront in Brighton I found myself often gazing out to sea in frustration. 

It occurred to me that maybe I should do a swimming challenge rather than a running one as it would remove the pounding to my right leg. The fact I was an inexperienced swimmer never really occurred to me. I went home that day and booked myself a spot to swim the channel for two years later. 

Before starting to sea swim for this event I was on a lot of medication, to control my Crohn’s disease and arthritis. Within just a few months of being in the sea every day I came off all my medication, it was astonishing how well I suddenly felt.

I found that I had trouble keeping weight on because of my Crohn’s disease and hit a silly eight stone at one point, but it was still better than taking all those pills. And, of course, I still had pains from both illnesses, but being in the sea every day made it all very bearable and much easier than it had ever been. 

After my channel swim in 2012 I found I had developed a bug for eventing. The next year I bought a bike and cycled up Mount Ventoux in Provence. The year after that I ran my first marathon, and then triathlon entered my life.

The thought of combining all three events into one was too good a chance to miss. I started with Olympic distance, before moving to half Ironman and then in 2020 I completed my first full iron distance – that was a real eye opener. 

In 2022, as another charity fundraiser, I decided to complete 52 Olympic Triathlons in 52 weeks. That was physically pushing myself, and both my Crohn’s and arthritis complained a lot, but I still never went back to the medication and I raised over £105,000 for the Starr Trust.

My next event, planned for 2026 is my first ever ultra marathon 100k run – that will be interesting! 

I’m also a published author and my latest novel, Black Gold, was out in July. It’s the second instalment of a female-driven international crime thriller series following The First Widow, which came out last year. I’ve even made triathlon the main hobby of its protagonist. 

I’d recommend the sport to anyone. Triathlon has given me such a focus and a reason to make sure I swim in the sea every day before work. It has proved that for me exercise is far better than medication. 

Black Gold by Rob Starr is published by Just Once Publishing and is available to buy now.