Connor Emeny, Com’18, believes everyone should dream big.
“I think the world needs dreamers now more than ever before,” says Emeny. “The world is super tough with the pandemic, wars, and mental-health challenges. Dreamers give people hope.”
Emeny, a former member of the Gaels triathlon team, already has some inspiring accomplishments.
Last year at age 26, he became the youngest person in the world to complete an Ironman Triathlon (3.9-kilometre swim, 180-kilometre bike, and a 42.2-kilometre run) on six continents.
Now he is looking to make history by completing an Ironman-distance triathlon in Antarctica this January, making him the first person to do an Ironman-distance triathlon on all seven continents.
“You can inspire others to live their best life through your actions,” Emeny says when asked why he is doing it. “It’s never been done before and I want to push the boundaries of human potential and human endurance.”
Emeny grew up playing mainly hockey and never did a triathlon until arriving at Queen’s. After hanging up his skates, he was looking for a new sport and tried out for several Queen’s varsity teams, making the Gaels triathlon squad.
He enjoys the physical variety of running, biking, and swimming, but it is the inspiring people in the sport he loves the most.
“Everybody I met (who does triathlons) are go-getters and very successful either in school or their career and I just thought that's something I wanted to be exposed to and learn from,” Emeny says. “The sport was almost secondary. It’s the people that keep me coming back to this day.”
So how does Emeny – who works in sales in the tech industry – train for a race in Antarctica when he lives in the balmy city of Vancouver, B.C.?
To replicate the chilly conditions, Emeny and his friends have been making trips to Whistler, B.C., to find frozen lakes in the mountains and carve out lanes in the ice to swim. He is also travelling to Greenland where he will take part in the Polar Circle Marathon and the Arctic Ocean Triathlon.
His Antarctica triathlon is not an officially sanctioned Ironman race. Emeny will be piggybacking off an existing Antarctica marathon that takes place every year, and adding his own swim and bike. He is currently working on the logistics. He will have friends follow him in a boat during the swim and he will use a fat-tire bike – a bicycle with large wheels designed for snow.
Emeny also has plans to film his journey and his race. When asked about the cost of following his dream, he says the final total depends on the number of people and the amount of gear he needs in Antarctica. But he says it is definitely not cheap.
After he completes his Antarctica triathlon, Emeny wants to go back to his high school and Queen’s and visit cities to give public talks about the importance of chasing your dreams.
“To me this whole story is much bigger than triathlon,” Emeny says. “The lessons of perseverance and pursuing a dream are really important. That’s a testament to what more people should do – instead of just talking about your dreams, go act on them.”
Anyone interested in following his journey or sponsoring the trip can visit the Chasing Antarctica website.
