Iron Series: Connor Maggs and Lucy Derbyshire become Iron Champions

A close call and a photo finish fuelled a dramatic close to the Iron Series, with champions of the men’s and women’s competition named for the 2024-25 campaign.

Iron Series Champions Connor Maggs and Lucy Derbyshire. Picture: Supplied

Connor Maggs survived a near-downing in a dramatic finish for the ages between an unlikely pair to cause a boilover and be crowned the 2024/25 Ironman champion.

Maggs had been riding his final ski leg home with what appeared to be an unassailable lead, and had even punched the air in an early act of celebration, when disaster struck.

The 19-year-old’s ski was rolled just metres from shore and he failed to re-emerge, the seconds ticked and ticked and ticked, until finally Maggs resurfaced and made a mad dash for the finish line with Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park’s Joel Piper breathing down his neck.

Piper closed the gap as the pair rounded the corner and flung himself at the line to make for a breathtaking photo finish, but Maggs held on, with barely a grain of sand separating the pair.

“I honestly thought I was going to drown when I was under the water,” Maggs said after the race.

Iron Series Round 4 Men’s Overall Winner Connor Maggs survived a near-drowning experience. Picture: Supplied

“My foot’s okay now, at the time I was panicking, I stuffed it up.

“I came down on a wave and was like ‘yes, I’ve got it,’ then the shore break stood up and my whole foot got stuck between the foot pedal and the foot strap, I thought it was just gonna pop out but my ski kept getting sideways so my foot got caught.

“I panicked and Joel is one of the quickest on my beach so I still had my work cut out.”

“I’m stoked my luck finally turned around even though it didn’t look like it.”

As for his premature celebration: “I think I went a bit too early,” Maggs laughed sheepishly.

Remarkably, both Maggs and Piper failed to directly qualify for the Ironman series and earned their place via the trial round at Tugun in November.

Despite coming within centimetres of the ultimate glory, it was another sprint finish along the North Burleigh sand for eighth place in the earlier that saw Piper sneak into the final as the last man to qualify.

Neither competitor had even finished in the top three of an Ironman race before.

Joel Piper was right behind Maggs. Picture: Supplied

For Maggs, the triumph was the ultimate reward after a testing campaign last season that had been marred by glandular fever.

“I did HSC last year and didn’t do as much training as I thought I should’ve. I ended up racing 15 weeks with glandular fever without even knowing, I raced the whole series last year with glandular fever and was wondering why I wasn’t getting good results,” Maggs said.

“I couldn’t make it two weeks without being sick so I took the rest of the season off and came back for Aussies.

“I put in a good block ahead of the Coolangatta Gold and it’s paying dividends this season … today and the whole season I felt like I’ve put out good races and haven’t had results, I’m super stoked.

“It’s such a tough series dropping athletes every single round, and then I make a mistake like that at the end. I try to go into every single race and offer myself the best opportunity to come away with a win and being grateful to be able to race.

“To come away with a win hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

The series winners not only pocket $25,000, but an Isuzu MU-X for their

“When I’m driving that car home tomorrow morning I think it’s going to sink in,” Maggs said.

Connor Maggs and Joel Piper put on a photo finish. Picture: Supplied

In the Ironwoman final, Lucy Derbyshire’s perfect ski run propelled her from the middle of the field to victory, having hung onto a wave that took her all the way to shore after rounding the cans.

She let out a joyous cheer as she sprinted up the sand, high-fiving boyfriend Finn Askew who had just completed in the men’s final, en route to the finish line.

It had been a captivating final, with the lead changing every leg. Georgia Fitzsimmons was in front after the swim, but was overtaken by eventual runner up Tiarnee Massie after the board leg.

The leading pack in the final ski leg were made to tackle some serious waves heading out to the cans, and that was where Derbyshire made her move.

“The top five girls all went in, there was a set out the back that came and I was able to get over it really clean, that’s when I started getting to work around the can and came in for a nice ride,” Derbyshire said.

Iron Series Round 4 Ironwoman Winner Lucy Derbyshire. Picture: Supplied

“I tried not to think about (the lead) too much because that’s when I make mistakes. When I hit the sand and couldn’t get chased down, that’s when it really sunk in and I was able to run up the beach and enjoy it.

“I still really can’t believe it, I haven’t had time to let it soak in … I’m feeling so so happy.”

Having begun her career at Glenelg in South Australia, Derbyshire made the move to Surfers Paradise to pursue the sport, and has now reaped the ultimate reward from her sacrifice.

“Moving from South Australia was really hard,” she said.

“There’s been some lows, and some highs, I feel like I’ve had my goals, I’ve stayed aligned with them and no matter how tough it got I always looked forward.”

A brutal reminder of just how cutthroat the new knockout format was - with no points accumulated across the series and each round instead about avoiding elimination - had been issued before the women’s final.

Three-time champion Lana Rogers failed to make the final cut of eight in the second race of the day and was eliminated after her ski was rolled twice by brutal waves on the way out to the cans.

Five-time Ironman champion and hero of the sport Ali Day also missed the podium in the men’s final, while round two winner Joe Collins, who had been out to make history as the first champion from New Zealand, missed the cut in the first men’s race on Sunday.

Originally published as Iron Series: Connor Maggs and Lucy Derbyshire become Iron Champions