Cyra Bender
19
YEARS OLD
QLD
BMD NORTHCLIFFE
N/A
2024/2025 SERIES
swim
STRENGTH
Stats
Bio
Cyra Bender grew up playing a wide variety of sports and was at one time heavily invested in rowing. However at the end of Year 12, she made the tough decision to focus on surf lifesaving, the sport she loves. Having already donned the green and gold cap of the Australian Life Saving Team six times (across Youth, Pathways, and Opens), Bender now makes her Shaw and Partners Iron Series debut in 2025/26. Away from sport, she is about to complete a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, with hopes of pursuing a career in medicine with a special interest in sports medicine and female athlete health.
Cyra, how old were you when you started surf lifesaving and why?
I became a nipper at BMD Northcliffe when I was six for surf safety skills and to have fun with my friends.
Who was your hero growing up in and out of surf lifesaving?
Georgia Fitzsimmons – I look up to her not only as an athlete but as a person.
What is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given?
“If something won’t matter in 5 years, don’t waste more than 5 minutes worrying about it now,” – my Year 5 Maths teacher.
Your advice for aspiring Shaw and Partners Iron Athletes?
‘Just Keep Swimming!’ – Dory, Finding Nemo, circa 2003.
Do you have any race day superstitions?
I always race with pearl earrings.
Cyra, what has been a high and low in your IronWoman journey?
High: Qualifying for the 2025/26 Shaw and Partners Iron Series.
Low: Dislocating my knee during the 2024/25 Shaw and Partners Iron Series Trials and being unable to compete for most of the season.
What do you think about during a race?
The process and not the result.
Do you have a secret talent?
I can play the saxophone.