It became apparent early on that swimming was where Mark was most at home. Both of Mark’s parents swam and they had him on the local swim team by the time he was six, which eventually led him to compete at the Olympic Trials for the sport. Mark raced his first triathlon in August of 1999 on a borrowed bike and with no running training. He won his age group and placed in the top 15 overall. Since then, Mark had the fastest swim at the 2007 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in 49:50 and continues to excel in the swim leg of triathlon. He is known as one of the fastest swimmers in multisport. Mark had an impressive race at Ironman Canada 2008 where he came out of the water in a blazing 46:11 and led the entire race until halfway through the run. Mark lives and trains in Boulder, Colorado and has been with XTERRA WETSUITS since 2007.

• PHOTOS