Vinolee Ramalingam, a mother of 11-year-old son from Thanjavur, is a trend-setter in extreme sports in India

Vinolee Ramalingam, a mother of a 11-year-old son from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, is the face of extreme sports in India. From 2016 to 2022, she has completed five full Ironman at the international level and two in India. The full triathlon distance (Ironman) is 3.8 km open water swimming, 180 km cycle and 42km running.

Vinolee’s journey into endurance sports is all about grit and optimism. Since becoming overweight in 2016, the 37-year-old from Thanjavur has become a trend-setter in triathlon in the country.

She recently finished a creditable 28th, despite nursing a shoulder injury halfway through the full Ironman in Western Australia.

“It will take at least 10 days for me to recover from the shoulder pain,” Vinolee told Sportskeeda over the phone from Chennai.

Last month, she finished fourth in her age group at the national triathlon competition held in Goa. Having competed in several triathlon competitions, she is also a role model for youngsters in her region.

From 2011 to 2016, family affairs kept the young mother too busy and she didn’t find time for physical activities. The stress of gaining weight started hurting her. From a normal 68kg, her weight shot up to 82kg. That was when her inner self urged her to move out of the four walls of the house to resume her fitness regimen again.

“After marriage I got busy with daily family routine work. My fitness took a backseat. But the lack of physical activity started hurting me badly,” she reveals.

While searching for an outdoor platform in 2016, to move out of the house, she came across an advertisement for an open water swimming competition in Chennai.

“It was sort of a big opportunity for me,” she recalls. “I wasn’t fit but I went ahead to compete.”

Since then, Ramalingam has completed several triathlon competitions. Standing 5 feet 2 inches above the ground, her powerful physique enables her to withstand the challenges of the triathlon.

“I work hard in the gym, in the water and bicycle long distance,” she claims.

While in 2016, she completed the Ironman course in 16 hours and 50 minutes, a year later at the international event in Barcelona, her best time was 14 hours and 53 minutes.

Turning point for Vinolee Ramalingam

In her formative years in school, Vinolee was scared of water.

“One day my father M Ramalingam pushed me into the swimming pool,” Vinolee recalls. “It was turning point in my life. Thereafter, I started enjoying swimming and won medals in school competitions.”

She enjoyed sports at the school level and often competed in short sprints and was a ball handler in basketball. However, at the college level, Ramalingam's priorities changed.

“At school level I was under my father’s observation, but at college level the risk was more than the gain as the environment wasn’t good for young girls to pursue sports,” she explains. “I had a choice either to time fight with the system or focus on academic.”

She preferred to pursue a degree in engineering. However, due to family circumstances, she took up a teaching job in 2008 to stay close to her parents in Thanjavur.

In 2010, she got married. But from 2011 to 2016 she became too busy with family affairs and became overweight.

“There were some family commitments and it was difficult to find time for fitness,” she admits.

In her first triathlon competition in 2016 after a long hiatus, Vinolee competed on a borrowed bicycle. In December of the same year, she qualified for the 2017 Ironman in Spain. Despite a challenging course in Spain, she managed to complete the distance of 3.8km open water swim, 180km bicycle and 42km running segment in 14 hours and 53 minutes.

“There was residual tiredness for a couple of days, but I was happy that I have achieved something good in life,” she said of her experience in Spain.

Hungry to do better, Vinolee hired an Australian expert in 2018 for an online training course. She paid the coach Rs 5000 per month.

“It was very productive and I made a good progress,” she adds.

Off the field, she felt the pressure of hard practice and wasn’t able to cope up with her teaching job.

“With family support I quit my full-time job as a teacher in 2018,” Vinolee says. “A year later I was lucky to find a sponsor and got a specialized bicycle for triathlon.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vinolee began an online coaching course for youngsters in her region.

“I wasn’t earning much but the joy of encouraging young blood to take up endurance sports was greater than making money,” she says.

According to the young mother from Tamil Nadu, the journey has been quite challenging but she is enjoying nonetheless.

“To pursue an event like a triathlon that too for a middle-class family is tough,” the 37-year-old says. “I couldn’t have reached so far without the support of my family.”

The expenditure to compete in an international race isn't less than Rs 3 lakh. She is often accompanied by her husband and son.

“My family are sort of support staff to me during the competition. They are also the cheering squad,” Vinolee adds.