Tom Warren (triathlete)

Tom "Tug" Warren (born November 11, 1943) is an American triathlete,[1] an Ironman champion, an inductee of both the Ironman Hall of Fame and the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame,[2][3] and a former sports bar owner from San Diego, California.[4]

Tom Warren
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's triathlon
Ironman World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1979 Individual

Early life and education

Warren was the youngest of two children, with brother Bill, born to his mother Josephine and his father George, a former senior vice president of a savings and loan bank.[5] Warren grew up in Pacific Beach, a coastal community of San Diego, and graduated from Mission Bay High School.[2] He went on to graduate from the University of Southern California with a degree in accounting, and then served three years in the U.S. Army. At USC, he played water polo and swam on three NCAA championship swimming teams.[6]

Business and sports careers

After serving in the Army, Warren opened Tug's Tavern, a sports bar and restaurant in San Diego's Pacific Beach that he owned for 17 years. The bar, beginning in 1975, sponsored the annual Tug's Swim-Run-Swim, an early multisport[7] event that included a half-mile swim around Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, a 5-mile run on the sand from the pier to the Mission Beach jetty and back, and another half-mile swim around the pier.[8]

At the second Ironman in 1979 on Oahu, Warren arrived as an unknown quantity from San Diego. "No one thought to challenge the saloonkeeper," wrote Sports Illustrated's Barry McDermott. Warren ended up winning in 11 hours, 15 minutes, 56 seconds, beating out Gordon Haller, the first year's champion.[9] McDermott's Sports Illustrated article featuring the three leaders in the competition, including Warren, "was Ironman’s spark," wrote The New York Times, prompting “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” to cover the third Ironman the following year, with 108 athletes competing.[10] Warren, on July 25, 1979, appeared on "The Tonight Show" to talk with Johnny Carson about the win.[11][12]

Warren has been at the start line of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii 20 times, finishing 16 of them.[2] The Los Angeles Times called Warren an "ultra-sport pioneer."[11]

Since 2009, Warren has been co-owner of Schroeder's at Tango del Rey, a tango, salsa and jazz bar.[13]

Personal life

Warren's late wife, Barbara Warren, who was also a champion endurance athlete, died in 2008 at age 65 in Santa Barbara, Calif., three days after crashing during the bicycling portion of the Santa Barbara Triathlon.[4] The couple had been married since 1995.[14]

Warren lives in a cabin he built in Julian, California, overlooking Lake Cuyamaca in San Diego County.[2]

Awards
  • Inducted in 2000 into the Ironman Hall of Fame.[2]
  • Inducted in 2014 into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame.[15]

References
  1. Union, International Triathlon. "Athlete Profile: Thomas Warren". Triathlon.org. Lausanne, Switzerland: International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  2. "High Above San Diego, Tom Warren Enjoys The Peace And Quiet". ironman.com/triathlon-news. June 4, 2003.
  3. "Five Multisport Greats Named to USA Triathlon Hall of Fame". TeamUSA.org. United States: United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015.
  4. Weber, Bruce (August 29, 2008). "Barbara Warren, Winner of Endurance Competitions, Dies at 65". The New York Times.
  5. "Ironman: Tom Warren's victory that started it all". si.com.
  6. "IRONMAN Looks Back: Tom Warren's Legacy". IRONMAN.com. Archived 2019-09-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. Tinley, Scott (September 1, 1986). Scott Tinley's Winning Triathlon. Contemporary Books. ISBN 9780809251179 – via Internet Archive. tom warren run-swim-run.
  8. Moss, Julie; Yehling, Robert (October 2, 2018). Crawl of Fame: Julie Moss and the Fifteen Feet that Created an Ironman Triathlon Legend. ISBN 9781681779218 – via Google Books.
  9. McDermott, Barry. "To Earn That Title, Tom Warren Victoriously Swam 2.4 Miles Through Rough Seas, Bicyled 112 Miles And All Ran A Marathon, All In A Single Day Of Agony". si.com.
  10. Branch, John (January 25, 2019). "The Enduring Fight Over the First Ironman Triathlon". The New York Times.
  11. "The Pioneer Ultra-Athletes : In The World of Personal Endurance Sports, Three Californians Were Among the First to Push Beyond the Outer Limits". Los Angeles Times. June 19, 1988.
  12. "Heeere's RETAIL! Time Life Releases Carson". JohnnyCarson.com.
  13. "Ghosted Tablao tangos with jazz - Far away from the PB beach bar scene the old Tablao Flemenco on Del Rey Street has stood a looming turret unnoticed for the past 20 years since the venue was locked up after a five-year stint as a flamenco dinner ..." www.sdnews.com.
  14. "Triathlete honored as one of 'San Diego's 10 Cool Women'". Del Mar Times. April 14, 2010.
  15. "USAT Hall of Fame Induction Banquet in Chicago". TriHistory.com. 2014-06-22.
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