We Salute Scott Tinley

To anyone who’s been in our sport for very long, the letters ST should bring a smile. Scott Tinley is one of the legends of triathlon and multi sport.

ST began competing in triathlons in 1976 while a student at San Diego State University. As triathlon gained in popularity, he devoted more and more time to his training and racing, finally turning pro in 1983. Over his illustrious career, Tinley competed in over 400 triathlons, winning close to 100 of them, making him one of the winningest triathletes of all time.

Tinley won the Ironman World Championship twice and the Ironman World Series three times. He was inducted into both the Triathlon and Ironman Hall of Fame upon retirement in 1999. Near the end of his career, he helped found and develop the sport of off-road triathlon and continues to co-own and manage the longest running off-road triathlon in the world…named…What Else? Scott Tinley’s Dirty Adventures.

Tinley continues to stay close to the sport as a researcher, college lecturer, coach, and writer. And although professionally retired, Scott still competes and has found a new passion in paddleboard racing. 

Tinley, a native Californian, lives near the beach in Del Mar with his wife and two children. He teaches Sports MBA graduate students, undergraduate English students, and Junior Lifeguards and has authored several books, including “Racing the Sunset”, a personal study on Athlete Retirement. Recently, Scott founded the Institute for Athletes in Retirement and Transition… at San Diego State University and continues to conduct research on the subject.

In 1996, Scott competed in XTERRA’s inaugural event, known as Aquaterra at the time. That day, he finished in 4th place and went on to finish in the top 10 in both 1997 and 98. But more than just an athlete, Scott was one of the early ambassadors for the sport.

When XTERRA was invented, we knew that to have a world class event we needed world class athletes. Tinley was among the first to get a call and was at the sharp end of getting athletes to Maui that frankly, we might never have been able to convince. When you look at the high level pro’s that came 10 years ago, it is far more impressive than what one, solitary, unusual race with a $5,000 prize list should have attracted. Jimmy Ricitello, Mike Pigg, Wes Hobson, Ray Browning, Pat Brown, Scott Molina, Emilio Desoto, Jeff Devlin, Kenny Glah, Paul Huddle, Michellie Jones, Paula Newby, Sian Welch, Karen Smeyers and more I probably can’t remember. A lot of that participation is because of ST. 

After that first Aquaterra Tinley campaigned in the Hawaiian Mountain Tour bike race in Hawaii to promote XTERRA and convince mountainbikers and triathletes alike that this new sport was available to all.

For his many contributions and influence on the sport…We salute Scott Tinley as a 2006 inductee into the XTERRA Hall of Fame.