When The Buoy Dunked An Ironman

Four broken ribs during the bike crash in Ironman NZ in March 2025. No workouts for six weeks.

Injured knees, due to over work. Laid off for another six weeks.

Despite such debilitating injuries, Ankush kept up his morale and competed in the Ironman on 23rd Aug 2025 at Tallinn Estonia. He not only competed but finished the race improving his previous timing. Details below.

Ironman NZ: 1st March 2025. 15h 57min 40 sec. Bib No. 793

Ironman Tallinn: 23rd Aug 2025. 15h 41 min 31 sec. Bib No. 645

But is wasn't a cake walk. He got dunked under a marker buoy! What? Then what happened? Read on.

Screenshot of the Ironman Tracker app after Ankush completed the race.

This demonstrates the power of human mind. His swim timing yesterday was slower by 18 minutes. He had an injured knee. But he kept going. We can't reach him at the time of writing as he has to recoup the energy in the area reserved for the athletes. No cell phones. But we asked him how did he do it?

As a family, our thrill knew no bounds. Sharing below the snapshots of our WA chat.

[03:35, 24/08/2025] Harsh Bhargava in USA: @ANKUSH ,

Superb going!

Just 4kms to go.

I know your knee is hurting, but you have demonstrated the power of human mind and spirit.

Well done Son!

So proud of you 👏

[03:58, 24/08/2025] Ashi in USA: You got this Ankush! Last 2.5 kms. Amazing!!!!!

[04:05, 24/08/2025] Harsh Bhargava: Never mind Son.

I can see you are walking the last 2 kms in pain. But you are nearly there. May be faster than your previous best of 15h 57minutes! (Ed: And he did it!)

Go Son go!👏

[04:08, 24/08/2025] Ashi: Wow!!!

[04:08, 24/08/2025] Ashi: Congratulations Ankush!!!!

[04:08, 24/08/2025] Ashi: 👏👏👏👏

[04:08, 24/08/2025] Ankur: Amazing 👏👏👏👏

[04:09, 24/08/2025] Harsh Bhargava: Bravo Son 👏👏

[04:31, 24/08/2025] Prabhjoth in Chennai India: Done! Yay

From the above time stamp you can see that the race started on 23rd and ended on 24th Aug. Ironman needs not just training for endurance and stamina but also perseverance and determination. Ankush has proven it many times over. You may browse his story of the 1st Ironman, injuries before and the bike crash during the race.

Ankush Does IT - The Ironman - story of grit and determination backed by passionate zeal.

What is Ironman

You may browse our story linked below

Ironman New Zealand A Curtain Raiser - Get a feel of the Ironman preparations, venue and the race.

Coming back to Ironman Tallinn, Ankush shared that the swim start where due to hundreds of swimmers cramming for space and excessive turbulence, he got disoriented. In addition, the water was freezing cold. Sharing below Ankush's post a few hours after race completion:

[05:55, 24/08/2025] ANKUSH in Tallinn Estonia: Nah, the knee held up...minor pain from 21st km onwards so I slowed down to conserve. Else a pretty decent run. 5h30 for a post 180 bike...I was happy with that.

[05:57, 24/08/2025] ANKUSH: Swim was a disaster...the cold just froze me...I couldn't settle at all in the first 1900m lap. Took help of the kayaks to hold and rest. Plus I can't adjust to hundreds of swimmers. The second lap...I was left behind and it was so peaceful. Did that leg non stop

[05:59, 24/08/2025] ANKUSH: That grit and all came during the swim. Twice they asked me if I want to abort...I was barely able to move....dig deep into all the prep that went into all this

[05:59, 24/08/2025] Harsh Bhargava: Super 👍

[06:00, 24/08/2025] ANKUSH: My glasses fogged up...couldn't even figure out where to sight the buoys....was swimming all over the place.

Thereafter, when we spoke he revealed that due to disorientation, he nearly collided with the marker Buoy. As a result, he went under water and the buoy wouldn't let him surface as if something was holding him down. After a while, which seemed eons, he popped up and gasped for fresh air. Once he regained his composure, he swam the remaining 1.9 kms in less than 50 minutes. Only five swimmers were left to complete the swim. The swim cut off of 2h 20 minutes lurked in his mind. But he made to the swim finish line in 2h 04 min. Swim to bike transition took 18 minutes. Removing the skin tight wet suit took time.

The Medal

Here is a picture of the engraved medal awarded after completing the Ironman well within the stipulated time. Congratulations Ankush again.

See the video shot by Saif, his companion. Ankush can be seen at the bike transition i.e. changing from the wet suit to the  biking gear. Tallinn was so cold that the race had to be deferred by more than three hours!

There were close to 70 participants from India for the Ironman and 70.3 (the half Ironman) events. Ankush met up with a few of them. See the picture below with a fitness celebrity couple:

On the same day another story was unfolding in India. Ankush's wife Prabs and daughter Anuva were participating in the Chennai Marathon. They both completed their respective sections. See the pictures below. A true adventure loving family.

We thank all the readers for their congratulatory messages, mails and calls. Your blessings and support did it!

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with inputs from Ankush Bhargava/ Tallinn and California/ 24th Aug 2025

#Ironman #Grit #Determination #Triathlon #Perseverance #endurancesport #NeverEverGiveUp #Tallinn #Estonia #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh