California Lutheran University alumna Kelsey Myers (‘08) completed a world record attempt this past March, completing six Olympic distance triathlons on six different continents in six days.
Myers started her attempt in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday, March 3 at 3 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, and would finish her final triathlon in Malibu, California on Friday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m.
In between, Myers raced in Lisbon, Portugal, Tangier, Morocco, Muscat, Oman, and Sydney, Australia. On each continent, Myers would complete a 0.9 mile swim, a 24.8 mile bike ride and a 6.2 mile run.
“The why to do it was to prove that anyone can set a big goal and do it,” Myers said. “I’m not a professional triathlete, I’m a normal person.”
While at Cal Lutheran, Myers was a member of the swim team and competed with the cross country team during her senior year. She was also introduced to triathlon while attending Cal Lutheran, and completed her first sprint distance event on campus.
Myers said her experiences at Cal Lutheran, both academically and athletically, established the building blocks for her to accomplish this world record along with a successful career in the corporate sector.
“Those experiences that I had in college of studying abroad, being on the swim team, causally signing up for the cross country team my senior year because I loved to jog, that became the person that I am now,” Myers said.
Myers said that completing the six triathlons wouldn’t be the only challenges she faced over the six days. For Myers, the challenges would begin even before her first race. Her original plan was to complete a triathlon on each of the seven continents, but shortly before her attempt, she lost her permit to swim in Antarctica. Myers said she battled through flat tires, bike crashes, canceled flights, visa issues, flash floods, sickness, and blistering feet before crossing the final finish line in Malibu – yet she believes the hardest part of the whole endeavor was the logistics of it all.
“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Myers said.
Over the course of her triathlons, Myers fundraised for the non-profit organization, ZGIRLS. According to Myers and the ZGIRLS website, ZGIRLS is an organization working to instill self confidence into the minds of middle school age girls through programs led by world class athletes. When Myers completed her sixth and final triathlon on International Women’s Day, she had raised over $5,000 for ZGIRLS and their programs.
Myers said the experience of completing a triathlon can be transformative, and that it can truly change one’s view of themselves and their own capabilities. Myers said she first began to experience this when she finished her first Ironman Triathlon, as she originally believed it wouldn’t be possible for her.
“I have seen when someone sets a big goal, like a marathon or a triathlon, and they complete it, it’s like a transformative experience overall,” Myers said. “It shifts the way you think about yourself, it builds self-confidence, in the process you meet a lot of cool people, you find community, there’s so many good things about it.”
Kyle Power, a former swim coach at Cal Lutheran, said that Myers completing this challenge is “not surprising,” and described her as “dedicated” and “qualified” for an accomplishment such as this.
“That college time when I was coaching her and watching her swim was just the beginning,” he said. “She’s obviously taken all that she did and all that hard work into years and years later to accomplish the triathlons she accomplished and ultimately, the world record.”
Myers said she was surprised at the support she received within each of the countries she visited and raced in.
“People are so supportive when you do something that’s a little bit out there,” Myers said. “I wasn’t expecting how much support I would get in each of the countries I went to.”
When Myers arrived in Tangier, Morocco, she said she was greeted at the airport by members of the country’s first triathlon club, the Tangier TRIumph Team. Myers said members of the team escorted and coached her through her triathlon, provided her with snacks and a bike, and awarded her with a custom finisher’s plaque to commemorate her triathlon on the African continent. Myers said she was “blown away” by the kindness of this team, and said their kindness made Tangier her favorite memory of the six days.
“It was way more than I ever would have expected from complete strangers,” Myers said.
Myers said obtaining this world record is not where her triathlon career ends, as she said she plans to accomplish her original goal of seven triathlons, on seven continents, in seven days in 2025.
“I would say that if you have a little bit of a crazy idea, it doesn’t matter the scale of it, you should kinda pull on that thread and see where it leads you,” Myers said.
You can follow Myers and her continued triathlon journey on Instagram @Kelseymyers4.
