Adferiad Mental Health staff member set to compete at Ironman World Championships

Adferiad’s Recovery Practitioner is no stranger to endurance events, being a marathon runner before deciding to switch to triathlon events at the age of 60 in a bid to spread the impact on her body. 

Barbara works in Ammanford, providing mental health support to individuals facing diagnoses of mental illnesses for over 17 years with Adferiad. 

The grandmother of three is hoping to raise awareness of the powerful impact fitness can have for individuals with mental illness, believing “nothing is impossible” for people.

“I’m a strong believer in the impact that fitness can have for people. Whether or not someone may have mental health issues, fitness helps give people structure and purpose. 

“I say this to the people I support all the time; you don’t have to do anything I do, but I think it is important doing things like getting up and going for a walk” she said.  

Barbara encourages clients of her service to have healthy lifestyles, including swimming and accessing the gym like that of her daily training routine. 

The endurance athlete regularly gets questioned by service users about her activities, with two members volunteering to act as mechanics for her bike.  

Her passion for physical fitness going together with mental health arose when she supported an individual with bipolar disorder to rediscover their love of riding a bicycle.

“We were approached by a carer regarding a family member with bipolar disorder and whether we could support them in riding their bicycle.  

“This individual had spent around six months in a psychiatric hospital, their carer was looking for opportunities to help their wellbeing. 

“We were with them every step of the way, we spoke to psychiatrists about how best to achieve it. 

“On our first cycle they had fallen off but it didn’t stop them, and we gradually progressed into cold water swimming.

“Afterwards, they decided to enter a triathlon, we gave them a lot of support and training and they were successful. I recall seeing their carer break down in tears at the finish line.

I wouldn’t tell anyone to do a triathlon but if someone wanted to, we would make sure everything is in place, if they put in the training and hard work, they would have the chance to complete their goal”. 

“Mental health is not a barrier to health and fitness” she said. 

Barbara previously won in the Copenhagen Ironman 2024, with a gruelling time of 14 hours, 17 mins and 17 seconds, coming first in her age group (65-69).

“I get a buzz out of being able to compete with the men, but my focus is on raising awareness that fitness can be at different levels and help everyone” she said.  

Barbara has now qualified to the 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, located in Marbella, Spain, to compete against some of the toughest athletes from all over the world in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, which consists of a 1.9km ocean swim, a hilly 90.1km bike ride and a flat 12.1km run. 

Whilst stating “age is just a number”, Barbara hopes to inspire others both young and old, to begin their fitness journey. 

“Mental health is not a barrier for people and their fitness, and those who have spent several months in psychiatric units are often forgotten about and are often considered as incapable of doing anything. 

“If you give someone time and encouragement, I have found that isn’t the case”, she said.

Barbara Cook is set to compete on Saturday, November 8.