Kendrick Louis wins Nutri-Grain ironman surf crown with Ky Hurst as handler
With an Olympian and champion cross code athlete in his corner as a handler, surf lifesaving star Kendrick Louis achieved a feat he has been dreaming about since he was a kid on Sunday.
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He works full-time, trains part-time and is the second oldest man in the elite ranks.
But neither his workload or age could stop Kendrick Louis winning one of the top crowns in world surf life saving at Cronulla on Sunday.
In a thrilling finale to the five-event Nutri-Grain series, Louis’ main rival for the title, Queenslander Tanyn Lyndon, was knocked out in the second of three elimination races.
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With former multiple iron champion turned Olympic swimmer and America’s Cup sailor Ky Hurst in his corner as handler, Kendrick then finished fourth in the finale to secure the overall ironman title for the first time at age 29.
“This means the world to me,’’ said Louis, who owns and runs his own digital marketing business at Manly and works eight hour days around training.
“It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been so close so many times. I’m just stunned really.
“It was definitely worth the wait.’’
Louis said surf legend Hurt, now a crewman for Team Australia on the Sail GP series, was an invaluable addition to his shore team.
“Having Ky handling was amazing, just having that experience in my corner, telling me when to go, when to conserve,’’ he said.
Tasmanian Matt Bevilacqua won the fifth round at Cronulla to finish second in the series. Former northern beaches athlete Matt Poole, now based in Queensland, finished third overall.
Louis prepared for the season as part of the Australian surf life saving team which contested and won the International surf rescue challenge in Durban, South Africa, late last year
Louis has now completed an impressive trifecta - winning the under 19 Australian iron crown in 2008, the Australian elite ironman crown in 2018 and now the professional series title.
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