George Sharp Sets Iron Man Record
By CHRIS SHARP
Special to The News
You may have seen someone swimming all over Lake Jackson this summer, wondering why anybody would swim, when there’s an ample supply of boats willing to take you where ever you want to go.
Seventy-year-old Turtle Cove resident, George P. Sharp is the person that swam countless miles in the lake in preparation for his first Iron Man triathlon, the Great Floridian, that was held in Clermont, Fla., on October 22.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Iron Man, it consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a marathon run of 26.2 miles.
After setting many age group records as a runner in the 80s and 90s as a member of the Atlanta Track Club’s Masters Competitive Team, Mr. Sharp looked for new challenges after knee replacement surgery forced him to seek other means of aerobic competition.
Swimming and biking were logical replacements. Doctors told Mr. Sharp that he would never be able to run again. Being a person to whom “can’t” is a 4-letter word, Mr. Sharp would devote countless hours to strength training and was able to resume running long distances. To the shock of his doctor, his knee was given a clean bill of health.
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Mr. Sharp has spent his life looking for challenges. He had set state and national age group records in running even after tearing cartilage in his knee, completed four marathons, all under three hours, and had won many age group awards in sprint triathlons.
At age 70, Mr. Sharp had always wanted to compete in an Iron Man. Now that he was fully retired, and had everything accomplished on his personal “honey-do” list, he used the opportunity to spend the summer training.
Training would become a religion for Mr. Sharp. He built up his training, up to 25 hours per week, and would follow a diet plan down to the ounce. He was in bed before 9 p.m. and up before 4 a.m. He would be finished with training, on a typical day by 9 a.m.
George would complete the Iron Man in 16 hours and 40 minutes, (the exact time that he predicted) which would be an age-group course record in what is the second oldest Iron Man competition in the world.
Through it all, Mr. Sharp had the loving support of his wife Janet, and the support of family and friends, to whom he would acknowledge gave him the motivation and courage to complete such an endeavor.
Mr. Sharp has been invited back to compete in the Iron Man next year, and has set a new goal of finishing in under 15 hours.
He plans to resume training in March, so if you see anybody swimming in Jackson Lake next spring or summer, don’t bother offering him a ride on your boat, it will more than likely be Mr. Sharp getting in a two-mile swim, and he will probably ask you to join him.
