Simon Christopher Lessing,
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
, (born 12 February 1971) is a British
triathlete who won five
International Triathlon Union
World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. World Triathlon hosts the top ...
(ITU) world titles (1992, 1995(2), 1996 and 1998).
He also won races at
70.3 (Half Ironman),
ITU long distance and
Ironman
Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to:
*Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer
*Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter
*Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician
*Mick Murphy ...
-distance events. He set an Olympic-distance world record in 1996, and is noted for his 2004 Ironman Lake Placid win, where he set a course record of 8:23:12. In 2008 he retired from professional racing.
Simon resides in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
, United States,
where he operates Boulder Coaching with Darren de Reuck.
Athletic career
Early years
Born in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, Western Cape South Africa, Lessing completed school at
Kloof High School
Kloof High School is a public, co-educational high school located in Kloof, near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
History
Kloof High School opened in February 1960 under the first headmaster, Mr G. Goodwin. The 127 students were taught ...
in
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
. Table Mountain was the backdrop to his formative years. His father and mother (who was a swim coach) supported him. By the end of his fifth year at school, he had won honours in swimming, sailing and biathlon and was known as a cross-country runner. When Lessing was 9, his family moved to Durban, a port city set on the East Coast.
Growing up, surfing and rugby were two of the major sports in Durban, but Lessing resisted the pressure to make the change to these activities. He trained an average of 3 hours a day in his areas of interest: sailing, swimming, track, cross-country and duathlon. He developed an interest in hiking and hiked in the Drakensberg Mountain range. His swim coach, David McCarney, encouraged Lessing to try a family oriented race he organised at Kloof High School. In 1988, Lessing was the South African triathlon champion.
He was selected to represent South Africa in a biathlon but suffered a broken leg in an accident during a local triathlon.
Lessing moved to Britain at age 18 and continued his international sporting career in Europe. He was entitled to dual citizenship because his mother was born in England.
Professional racing
![SimonLessing8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/SimonLessing8.jpg)
During the 1990s he and rival
Spencer Smith, were among some of the most successful athletes in Olympic distance triathlon. Lessing won the ITU Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championship in 1992, 1995, 1996, and 1998. In 1996, Lessing broke the Olympic distance triathlon world record with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes, 50 seconds in 1996 at the
ITU Triathlon World Championships in Cleveland.
Lessing competed in the
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon held annually in
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
. He has won the men's elite division there three times: 1996, 2003 and 2004. Lessing competed at the first Olympic games triathlon at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
. He took ninth place with a total time of 1:49:24.32.
Simon was Inducted into the International Triathlon Union Hall of Fame in 2014 and Inducted into the Boulder Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Long course racing
![SimonLessing6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/SimonLessing6.jpg)
Lessing's first attempt at long course triathlon took place in 1993 on the
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
triathlon course, in the
Côte d'Azur
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
. In the race he stayed with 9-time defending champion
Mark Allen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
until within 5 kilometres of the finish. He went on to win the Nice race in 1995.
Lessing has won numerous
Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting o ...
races, including the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Florida in 2004, and again in 2005. In 2005, he set a then course record at the
Wildflower triathlon.
The next year he took first place at the Ironman 70.3 Vineman. In August 2007 Lessing won the Ironman Timberman 70.3.
Ironman
In July 2004, Lessing qualified for the 2004 Ironman World Championships with a win and course record of 8:23:12 at
Ironman
Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to:
*Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer
*Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter
*Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician
*Mick Murphy ...
Lake Placid. In his first appearance at the Ironman World Championships (2004) he dropped out halfway into the bike leg, due to the high winds and problems with his back.
Lessing did not complete the marathon at the 2005 Ironman Coeur d'Alene and failed to qualify there for
Ironman World Championship
The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...
. He raced again the same summer and qualified for the World Championships by taking 4th place at Ironman Canada in Penticton in a time of 8:43:13. He did not complete the marathon at the 2005 World Championships.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessing, Simon
1971 births
Living people
British male triathletes
Olympic triathletes of Great Britain
Triathletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Triathlon coaches
Sportspeople from Cape Town
South African emigrants to the United Kingdom
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Triathletes at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for England
Goodwill Games medalists in triathlon
Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games
Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games
South African male triathletes
Sportspeople from Durban
South African people of English descent