Aussie Ironman likely to smash world record in ‘Arch to Arc’ bid

Australia’s John Van Wisse has nearly reached the end of his epic challenge to run 140km from London’s Marble Arch to Dover, swim 33km of the English Channel to Calais then bike 290km to L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

With the first two legs completed, Van Wisse is now cycling through France and aiming to reach Paris sometime tomorrow. He’s already swum the Channel in a staggering 12 hours and 31 minutes and is now on course to smash the world record with one last stage of his mammoth ultra-distance triathlon.

John is officially out on the bike at 8:35AM French time. He is currently just under 48 hours into the event. Record= 73 hours #archtoarc

— JVW Goes A2A (@Johnvanwisse14) August 28, 2014

John has an impressive sporting CV boasting various Ironman titles as well as the English Channel swim record. His journey hasn’t been entirely straightforward however – just as he was setting out from Dover he was stopped by the Border Force officials and the Kent Constabulary, who feared he was an illegal immigrant. Van Wisse saw the funny side afterwards, calling the interruption “priceless”.

The current record of 73 hours and 39 minutes is held by British triathlete Mark Bayliss. “I wish John every success in his challenge,” says Bayliss. “I am only looking after the world record not holding it. Purely looking after it until the next person comes along.”

Watch this space for more news as we have it…

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