With seven qualification places on the line for the 2021/22 Nutri-Grain IronMan and Ironwoman Series, close to a 150 Nutri-Grain IronMan and IronWoman Series hopefuls descended on Tugun beach on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Athletes battled it out across three races and formats – short and sharp (8-10 mins), longer tradition format (12-14min) and an “M Shape” (20-25min), with five heats for the men and three for the women.
A progressive point score was held across the heats with the top 20 males and females with the lowest point score, across their three races, securing a spot in Sunday’s finals.
Fresh off winning the 2021 Coolangatta Gold Short Course, Surfers Paradise’s Finn Askew shocked himself winning each of his three races to finish on top of day one.
“It is pretty awesome, my plan was just to focus on the process and do my best every time so to get three wins is pretty awesome and not something I expected,” said Askew.
“I am super stoked and hope that I can take that form into tomorrow where I will just need to give it my all again”.
Former series champion Brielle Cooper from Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park took out the top spot in the female field, with two second and one first place.
The most experienced competitor in the women’s field, four-time Coolangatta Gold Champion and three-time Nutri-Grain IronWoman Series Champion Courtney Hancock, qualified in seventh to take her place in tomorrow’s final.
“Coming off the Coolangatta Gold it has certainly been a challenge getting ready for the trial, I have never done that before and it has certainly challenged me,” said Hancock who qualified seventh for tomorrow’s final.
“I have ticked one box today, but I need to make sure that I do all my recovery and am on again tomorrow as I really want to be a part of the Series again this year”.
The top 20 males and 20 females who have progressed to the Sunday finals will compete across the same three formats as Saturday, with a new progressive point score being kept across the three rounds.
Finals will kick off from 9:00 AM (AEST) on Sunday morning with a separate progressive point score being kept. The final top seven males and seven females with the lowest point score will secure a coveted spot in the 2021/22 Nutri-Grain Iron Series.
For a full list of athletes who have passed to the Sunday finals please see below.
Sunday December 19 – Finals from 9:00AM AEST
Round 1 – Shorter Traditional Course (approx. 10 to 12 minutes in duration) – Board/Ski/Swim
Round 2 – Traditional Course (approx. 15 minutes in duration) – Ski/Swim/Board
Round 3 – M Shape (approx. 20 to 25 minutes in duration)- Swim/Board/Ski
Top 20 Males:
| Place | Last Name | First Name | Club | Points |
| 1 | Askew | Finn | Surfers Paradise | 3 |
| 2 | Louis | Kendrick | Manly | 5 |
| 3 | Palmer | Matthew | Maroochydore | 7 |
| 4 | Palmer | Adam | Maroochydore | 8 |
| 5 | Carberry | Ben | Currumbin | 8 |
| 6 | Cotter | Hayden | Maroochydore | 9 |
| 7 | Kinsela | Ky | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 9 |
| 8 | Fletcher | Corey | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 10 |
| 9 | Johns | Bailey | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 10 |
| 10 | Maggs | Conner | Newport | 10 |
| 11 | Verco | Charlie | North Bondi | 10 |
| 12 | Furniss | Jay | Cronulla | 10 |
| 13 | Beattie | Max | Surfers Paradise | 11 |
| 14 | Hendy | Trevor | Surfers Paradise | 11 |
| 15 | Morris | Jake | Newport | 11 |
| 16 | Lyndon | Tanyn | Kurrawa | 12 |
| 17 | Savage | Will | Trigg Island | 12 |
| 18 | Gould | Wesley | Kurrawa | 13 |
| 19 | Maxwell | Luther | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 13 |
| 20 | Middleton | Nicholas | Wanda | 13 |
Top 20 Females:
| Place | Last Name | First Name | Club | Points |
| 1 | Cooper | Brielle | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 5 |
| 2 | Bull | Aly | Alexandra Headlands | 6 |
| 3 | O’Sullivan | Lily | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 7 |
| 4 | Scully | Hannah | Northcliffe | 7 |
| 5 | Higginson | Kirsty | Currumbin | 8 |
| 6 | Pierce | Britney | Wanda | 8 |
| 7 | Hancock | Courtney | Surfers Paradise | 10 |
| 8 | Corrin | Olivia | Northcliffe | 11 |
| 9 | Spencer | Madison | Newport | 13 |
| 10 | Williams | Bella | Swansea | 13 |
| 11 | Papac | Carla | Wanda | 14 |
| 12 | Doyle | Emily | Newport | 15 |
| 13 | Finati | Lily | North Bondi | 15 |
| 14 | Harris | Grace | Alexandra Headlands | 15 |
| 15 | Coleman | Tara | Maroubra | 16 |
| 16 | Brown | Ella | Maroochydore | 17 |
| 17 | Goodwin | Miranda | Currumbin | 19 |
| 18 | Outram | Electra | Noosa Heads | 19 |
| 19 | Cross | Charlotte | Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park | 21 |
| 20 | Meehan | Ruby | Northcliffe | 22 |