Nutri-Grain IronMan / IronWoman Series
About Us
What we do
The Nutri-Grain Iron Series is the pinnacle of Surf Life Saving Australia’s elite sports program and is steeped in over 40 years of tradition.
This summer Surf Life Saving Australia is once again delivering the 2023/24 Nutri-Grain Series, which will bring athletes and audiences six rounds of action-packed racing.
The Nutri-Grain Series features 40 of the fittest and fastest surf sports athletes in Australia, who are all volunteer surf lifesavers and spend their weekends patrolling our beaches and saving lives.
The Nutri-Grain Series has previously made household names out of surf lifesaver such as the legendary Trevor Hendy OAM, Grant Kenny OAM, Darren Mercer and Karla Gilbert OAM.
The 2023/24 Nutri-Grain Series will be funded and promoted by SLSA, with the ongoing proud support of Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain.
40
ATHLETES
6
ROUNDS
6
BIG DAYS
1
BEACH
Highlights of this year’sNutri-Grain Series are:
– A six-round series across three weekends, held at Manly and Maroubra Beaches in Sydney, and Kurrawa in the Gold Coast.
– Race formats that will test athletes and excite crowds.
– Up close and personal on live television, you’ll feel like your racing with our IronMen and IronWomen.
– Every round will be live on SBS and Fox Sports!
Formats
There are four types of formats that each Nutri-Grain Series round will be based on:
Endurosurf – A 40-minute Iron race over an M-Shaped or traditional course. Each of the disciplines of swim, board, ski will be completed two or three times, with competitors taking on the surf break again and again.
Survival – Three separate, 10-12 minute long Iron races starting with 20 competitors. Each race the last six finishers are eliminated, until only eight remain in the final race. There is a thrilling 3-minute countdown between each race.
Super Sprint – Three separate, 10-minute races with 5-minutes rest between each race. Equal points are allocated for races 1 and 2. Prior to race 3 athletes will be ranked 1 to 20 based on their awarded points, and will start the final race with a staggered start. The athlete ranked first will start on “GO,” with the remaining athletes then undertaking a handicap start.
The Specialist – Four separate races, one for each discipline of swim, board, ski and run. There will be a 5-minute countdown between each race. At the conclusion of the four separate races, the final race will be conducted with a staggered start commencing from the finish arch. The athlete ranked 1st after the four Specialist races will start on ‘GO,’ with the remaining athletes then starting 2-seconds apart in sequential order in accordance to their ranking.
Coloured swimsuits
Each athlete in the 2022/23 Nutri-Grain IronMan and IronWoman Series will wear a different colour swimsuit depending on their placing in the 2021/22 Nutri-Grain Series.
Yellow = The previous Nutri-Grain Series Champions.
Green = The top ten placings of the previous Nutri-Grain Series and thus the automatic placing competitors.
Pink = The successful Nutri-Grain Series Qualifying Round entrants.
Orange = The current Nutri-Grain Series wildcards.
Red = The Nutri-Grain Next Gen Qualifiers.
This is designed so when an Red swimsuit is swimming neck-and-neck with a yellow, it is immediately recognised as a rookie taking on the reigning champion.
Nutri-Grain Next Gen
The Nutri-Grain Next Gen series is open to under 19 male and female athletes who dream of becoming the IronMen and IronWomen of the future.
Nutri-Grain Next Gen will see three rounds running as curtain-raisers for Rouds 4, 5, and 6 of the Nutri-Grain Series..
The top under 19 series winners will gain automatic qualification into the following year’s Nutri-Grain Series.