Dave Scott (born January 4, 1954) is a

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

and the first six-time

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship is a triathlon held annually in Hawaii, United States from 1978 to 2022, with no race in 2020 and an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culminat ...

winner (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1987). A progenitor of the sport, in 1993, Scott was the first person inducted in the Ironman Hall of Fame. He is known by the nickname "The Man" for his intense training regimens and his unrelenting race performances that created a record number of wins. In 1994, at age 40, he won second place at the Hawaii

, very nearly winning for a record-breaking seventh time. In 1996 at age 42, he returned again to place 5th, running the marathon in 2:45.

Early life and competition

Scott grew up in

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of ...

. By

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

, he played basketball and football. He was a

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player at Davis High School and

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, where he began to focus on swimming. Scott competed and twice won the Waikiki Rough Water Swim, part of the

Global Open Water Swimming Conference The Global Open Water Swimming Conference is a conference on the sport of open water swimming, marathon swimming and swimming during triathlons and multi-sport endurance events. The conference is devoted to providing information about the latest t ...

. In 1978, US Navy Commander John Collins created the Ironman out of existing races, including the Waikiki Swim. Scott heard about the race from a

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

article. Then, “Collins gave me a flier and said, ‘You ought to do this thing.’ I looked at it and saw a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run and turned to him and said, ‘That’s a long three days,’” Scott said. “That moment planted the seed though. To know there were people doing that distance in one day was amazing to me.” Scott had already competed in his first triathlon event in

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: a nine-mile bike, four-mile run and 1,500m swim race. He won the event; his prize was a turkey.

Triathlon career

Scott ran his first Ironman in 1980 and finished in 9:24:33, nearly 2 hours faster than the previous win, with ABC Wide World of Sports broadcasting the event from Kona for the first time. Scott's time and approach is widely considered to have changed the Ironman from a test of endurance to a race. Scott returned in 1982 and finished second. In 1983, Scott won in what was Mark Allen's first Ironman. In what would become a renowned rivalry, Scott would win three of the next four Ironmans over Allen. Scott has stated that he is most proud of his performance in 1994. Another second-place finish, Scott was 40 years old at the time so his race was considered to be a revolutionary feat. Two years later, Scott finished fifth overall. 2001 was his last foray into the Ironman. The 47-year-old Scott had back problems due to some last minute bike changes, which forced him out of the race.

Ironwar

In 1989, the rivalry between Scott and Allen reached a peak in what has alternately been called the "Ironwar" and "The Greatest Race Ever Run." Scott has stated "I never focused my goals on Mark Allen or what I had to do in the swim or the bike compared to Mark Allen. Ultimately, the competition level sometimes dictated that. After many years of racing, in 1989, we had a very very close race. It seemed like we were bouncing off of one another. It was influenced by our competitive natures." Allen ultimately won with Scott placing second and both broke Scott's course record.

Ironman results

DNC - Did not compete
DNF - Did Not Finish
(In 1982, The Ironman World Championship was moved from a February to October fixture, and therefore took place twice that year. Scott was second in the February race and won in October.)

Personal life after competition

Scott was married to a swimmer and had three children. Now divorced, he lives in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. Scott works as a triathlon coach, fitness consultant, motivational speaker, commentator, and corporate consultant. In 1986, he published his book ''Dave Scott's triathlon training''. Since 1999, Scott has been the head coach for

Team in Training Team In Training (TNT) is the flagship fundraising program for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. TNT is the only endu ...

, helping to certify

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

coaches nationwide. Scott experimented with vegetarian and vegan diets in the past. Since 1994, he has eaten chicken and fish and has criticized vegan diets for lacking Omega 3s."Plant-Based Diet"
Retrieved 31 July 2020.

References

External links

Dave Scott's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Dave 1954 births American male triathletes Davis Senior High School (California) alumni Ironman world champions Living people Sportspeople from Davis, California American sports announcers Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado Triathlon coaches University of California, Davis alumni 20th-century American sportsmen