The 41-year-old Australian born John van Wisse has finished the gruelling 483km ultra-distance Arch to Arc triathlon in the fastest time of 61:27hrs; completing the run in 15:53hrs, swim in 12:31hrs and the cycle in 14:07hrs
“I've done some brutal training and it's been a year's build-up and I'm just absolutely stoked,” he said on Melbourne’s 3AW radio station.
The epic ‘Arch to Arc’ challenge involved a 140km run from London’s Marble Arch to Dover, a swim 33km of the English Channel and the final 290km on bike to L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris. John boasts several top Ironman results, including placing fourth at Ironman New Zealand in 2001, as well as posting the fastest double crossing of the English Channel in 2010 (19:33hrs) and was ecstatic to add his world record ‘Arch to Arc’ challenge time to his impressive resume.
#arch2arc @Johnvanwisse14 is Enduroman 18, arriving at the Arc de Triomphe at 21:42. Fastest overall time - stats to follow shortly.
— Enduroman Events (@EnduromanEvents) August 28, 2014“It's kind of surreal, I can't believe it's all happening. It's like a dream,” the marathon swimmer continued.
However, it wasn’t just these epic obstacles that John had to surpass, John was stopped by the Border Force at Dover, who feared he was an illegal immigrant
Van Wisse has stated that he will spend the next few days relaxing in France, but hasn't ruled out doing the race again. “If someone breaks my record then I might come back and have another crack, so hopefully no one does.”
You can read more about Arch to Arc and other ultra-distance tri events at www.enduroman.com.