John Young

John Young was born in Toronto, Ontario in the '60s. Always a swimmer, John was much more of a sports fan than an athlete for most of his life. He started teaching high school math and coaching basketball in 1990. In 1999, John and his wife Sue moved to Hong Kong where John continued his teaching career. In 2002, after the birth of their son Owen in 2001, John and Sue moved to Massachusetts. John continues to teach at a small independent prep school north of Boston where he is also the varsity swim coach.

As an attempt to improve his fitness, John starting cycling in 2008 (at the age of 42) and then stumbled upon a video of Dick and Rick Hoyt, the father-son team, that have been competing in marathons and triathlons for more than 30 years. Following Dick’s and Rick’s mantra of “YES YOU CAN," John entered and completed his first triathlon in 2009. Having now completed more than 15 triathlons, including ½ iron distance races and ½ marathons, John is entered in the 2012 NYC Marathon and hopes to be the first dwarf (little-person) to enter and complete a full iron distance triathlon. He also has aspirations to compete in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, when paratriathlon will become an official sport.