Ali Day and Lana Rogers have taken out the 2023-24 Nutri-Grain Ironman and Ironwoman crowns at Kurrawa beach today.
Ten years after winning his first Nutri-Grain Ironman Series, Day has done it again to secure his fifth title.
Day, now 33 years old and soon to be a dad for the second time, showed no signs of slowing down just yet.
“I don’t know if it will ever sink in… I won it at 23 for the first time and I am 33 now. Five is an awesome number’
“I wanted to prove to myself I could back up and do another one. It just feels so good.
“To be mentioned in the same sentence or calibre as… some of my heroes growing up like Wes [Berg], Cain [Eckstein], Ky [Hurst] and Shannon [Eckstein].
“Shannon was my favourite. He was a professional and I felt like I was most like him in leaving no stone unturned and being professional. He was down here today and that added a bit of oomph to me.
“Literally right before the gun went, in the last race, I just went ‘what would Shannon do?’.
“I said to Zane [Hamill], my coach, after the second race, what do I have to do for the points and he said ‘don’t worry about the points’. You have got another race to go and execute… thankfully I did,” he said.
For Rogers, today’s third Nutri-Grain Ironwoman crown is perhaps the sweetest of all, admitting her resurgence to form is thanks to the move to the Gold Coast.
“It hasn’t sunk in just yet. I didn’t think I could beat my [2023] Coolangatta Gold win but this does and it’s very special.
“I didn’t think it [third Series title] was very realistic, it’s just sort of that ‘legendary books’ for Surf Life Saving… and I’ve done that and I can’t believe I’ve done it.
“I had no pressure on me coming into this season… I’m so happy I’ve made the big move to the Gold Coast, I haven’t had the best Series the last couple of years and I’ve just been trying to make my way back up to where I belong,” said Rogers.
Click here for the full results and overall pointscores of the 2023/24 Nutri-Grain Series.