Triathlon at the Ironman 70.3 Superfrog

The Army West Point Triathlon team traveled to San Diego, CA to participate in the Ironman 70.3 Superfrog triathlon. The Army team had great success in spite of extreme conditions with six-foot waves in the cold water during the 1.2-mile swim in the Pacific and over six miles of the half-marathon run in the sand on the beach. All four cadets finished on the podium. CDT Thatcher Shepard '20 and CDT Graham King '19 were 4th and 5th in the 18-24 male division and 2nd and 3rd in the Service Academy division. CDT Payton Boylston '20 and CDT Hannah White '20 were 1st and 2nd in both the women’s 18- 24 and the women’s Service Academy divisions. As a result, Thatcher and Payton earned qualification spots to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI in 2019. Payton also earned a qualification spot to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2019. Superfrog is the oldest half-ironman race and was created by Navy Seals to test and prepare them for the Ironman race in Kona, HI. The Superfrog event has special World Championship qualification spots for military and cadets and midshipman in service academies. Also competing the race was 1LT Connor Werneke '16, a past member of the Army Tri team, and Dr. Ken Allen, the team’s OIC. Connor finished 3rd in the men’s 18-24 division and Dr. Allen was 14th in the men’s 45-49 division.