Dublin-based student on brink of Ironman world record

For Dublin-based Thomas Baldauf, 1 November is Guinness Record time, and all it will take is some 14 hours or so to achieve it.

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) medical student will be in San Juan in Argentina attempting to break a Guinness World Record by becoming the youngest male to complete an Ironman triathlon on six different continents.

Fellow American Taeyoung Lee holds the current record after finishing an event in Korea last September aged 21 years 167 days, but if all goes to plan, Baldauf will better him by 82 days.

The endurance race - consisting of a 3.8km swim, an 180km bike ride and finally a 42.2km run - has taken Baldauf to Europe (Estonia), Asia (Malaysia), Africa (South Africa), Australia/Oceania (Australia) and North America (Canada).

When South America is ticked off, that'll leave just ice sheet-covered Antarctica and, wouldn't you know it, the South Pole hasn't escaped the Ironman craze with Anders Hofman completing the first endurance race there six years ago [his finishing time was 72 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds, if you're counting].

Baldauf generally clocks in just over the 14-hour mark - although there was an out-of-nowhere 12:38.51 in Ottawa in August - and ranks highest in swimming, but this record hunt hasn't been about the time, more about the overall accomplishment, with a little bit of family pride thrown in for good measure too.

"My brother Lukas was trying to break the record before Taeyoung Lee beat him to it so there's a bit of a fun rivalry with that too," Baldauf, who has lived in Dublin since 2023, told RTÉ Sport.

"Lukas is also studying in Dublin at RCSI and he's already completed the Ironman on six continents.

"It's definitely not the easiest thing for me to do and there's definitely a lot of sacrifice that has to go behind it, either sacrificing early mornings, late nights or sacrificing hangouts with friends and stuff like that.

"I think the main point of it is just that you have to really set your mind to it and if you set your mind to it then you'll make it happen.

"I think another thing that's been really important for me is just realising that not every day is going to be perfect, and that what I am doing is a very unique and special thing.

"There are going to be days where my training is going really well, but my studying is not, and other days I'll be trying to study, or I'll have an exam coming up, and I may not be able to train as much as someone else might be able to.

"I think it's just kind of about giving myself a little bit of grace and understanding that I'm not like everybody else so I can't assume it's going to go the same way as everyone else."

Florida-born, Baldauf is used to training in high temperatures and high humidity. Dublin, needless to say, has provided a different type of climate over the last three years.

Another obvious roadblock is the intense nature of his medical studies with the United States Medical Licensing Examination to come at the end of it.

It's more than most would be prepared to take on, but Baldauf has always been good at finding inspiration.

"The weather hasn't been great, I have to do quite a bit indoors, but I find it adds to the David Goggins [motivational speaker and ultramarathon runner] mentality of going out in the cold, early in the morning, late at night.

"There's something special about running up Phoenix Park in that weather and they have provided some of my best memories.

"I remember when I first started this in June 2025, I was running along the Liffey and it was pouring rain. I had the David Goggins 'Can't Hurt Me' audiobook playing and that was a very kind of formative moment.

"That was my biggest run up until then, I think I did 15km, and I was thinking 'man, one day I'm going to do the Ironman.'"

One Ironman has evolved into five with a sixth on the horizon and while Ottawa will always hold a special place in his heart given his rapid time, Baldauf doesn't have to think too long to select his favourite race to date.

"I think Cairns was probably my favourite just because I've been begging to go to Australia since I was really young.

"It was definitely part of the reason I got into this, just because I've been begging to go to Australia since I was like three years old. I would tell my parents 'no Christmas, no birthday, please just let me go there.' I tried to leverage it to do some boarding school in Australia.

"When I found out my brother was going, I said to my dad 'if I do the Ironman would you let me go with him' and he said yes.

"I figured if all I have to do is get in really good shape to go to Australia, that's well worth it.

"Australia was beautiful, the weather was amazing, the course was absolutely beautiful, it was definitely one of my harder courses, but just absolutely breath-taking on the James Cook Highway.

"Just seeing the ocean and then getting to enjoy some beach time and some scuba diving, yeah, that rounded out the trip."

San Juan and its famed vineyards notable for sherry production should provide another core memory given its potential relevance in his racing career.

For the athlete though, the elation if a world record is secured will have to lie beside differing emotions.

"It does take up a lot of time alongside the studying," Baldauf continued.

"At the end of the day, medical school is the top priority and triathlon is really just a side thing.

"I've definitely thought of what's next, part of me anyway, but I'm sad that it's sort of coming to an end."

That end will not be a quick one, it'll take some 226km all told, but in the end, a world record will make it all worthwhile.