North Vancouver man becomes first to complete Ironman Triathlon on all 7 continents

If you’ve ever wondered what your physical limits are – and then surprised yourself by pushing past the doubt – you might have a kindred spirit in Connor Emeny.

Last month, the North Vancouver man completed an Ironman Triathlon in Antarctica and by doing so became the first person to complete one of those events on all seven continents.

“I hope that this can impact people and help them, whatever their dream is,” Emeny told CTV News on Monday. “The world’s a tough place and the world needs more dreamers now than ever before. Dreamers give people hope. I hope to go back to my high school and speak to the kids about this journey and just about taking a chance.”

In his final hurdle in his quest to complete the event on seven continents, Emeny spent more than 32 hours pushing himself through frigid conditions that included a 3.9-kilometre swim, 180 kilometres on his bike and 42 kilometres of running.

“I think there’s countless hard moments,” Emeny said. “The swim in the actual Antarctica portion, which is physical torture. Minus one degree water temperatures. My leg cramped up. There was a seal chasing me while I was swimming. These are just things you can’t train for or prepare for, you just have to endure during your challenge.”

Emeny needed to travel by sailboat for 23 days and had an excursion team of seven people – which included his mom, brother and best friend.

“At the core, it’s a story about just doing something that has never been done before, showing up, becoming the best version of yourself and believing that anything is possible. I think that’s the message that this has been all about. It’s been about my community.”

Emeny has been sharing his journey at ChasingAntarctica.com and is trying to find partners to help create and distribute a documentary about his epic journey, after bringing videographers with him to shoot footage of his journey.

At 27, he’s still young and hungry for new challenges. Beyond creating the documentary, Emeny plans to compete in the World’s Toughest Row. That’s a series of endurance races across the Pacific Ocean as part of a team of four rowers.