WA athletes face tough challenge in new Nutri-Grain Iron Series qualifier

WA athletes Will Savage and Ceris Graham (Trigg Island SLSC) took on over 100 of Australia’s elite surf sports competitors in the 2019 Nutri-Grain IronMan and IronWoman Series Qualification event, held last weekend at Coolum Beach, Qld.

This new five-part surf sports series has been described as the pinnacle of Surf Life Saving Australia’s elite sports program, and brought the next generation of surf sport athletes out in full force, all fighting for a position in the series.

Surf Life Saving WA’s High-Performance Officer, Andrew Mosel stated that the qualifier would be challenging with only 6 positions up for grabs in each gender group.

“Will is still U/17 this season and the open trial would have been a big step up for him, with some very tough competition,” said Mr Mosel.

Despite our WA athletes not securing a position in the series, they gained valuable insights into this series and their own athletic abilities.

“I learnt the competition standards in open events are not as forgiving as an age group race,” said Will.

You can’t afford to make small mistakes and you have to push yourself to the limit throughout the entire race”.

“I had a base coming off the back of competing at the Australian and Interstate Pool Rescue Championships as part of the Western Suns state team, but the fitness was quite different so it was hard to transition into full ironman racing,” he said.

The next round of this series is the iconic Coolangatta Gold, held on Coolangatta Beach, October 13.

Special mention to former Western Sun’s athlete and Mullaloo SLSC member Wesley Gould (Kurrawa), who placed 11^th overall, just missing out on a position in the series.

Strong efforts also seen by other former Western Suns members included Jayde Hardstaff (Currumbin) placing 12th; Jade Mickle (Currumbin) placing 13^th; and Thomas Gallagher (Currumbin) placing 17^th.