Nutri-Grain iron series makeover, Iron X event set to turn heads in surf life saving revolution
A wave of change is sweeping the sport of Australian Surf Life saving as it moves to modernises its sport while inventing a radical new one.
A live-to-air professional series involving an iconic race, a radical Iron X event set to send shockwaves through the sport and super teams racing at the heart of an Olympic push are part of a revolution in surf life saving this summer.
One of the oldest sporting organisations in the country has reimagined, recreated and modernised its sporting showpieces with three events organisers hope will help recapture the glory days of the sport and a new legion of sponsors and fans.
Australia’s top ironwomen and ironman will vie for the same Fox Sports exposure and prize money in a new-look Nutri-Grain professional series incorporating the Coolangatta Gold endurance race for the first time and running from October to January in NSW and Queensland.
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Surf’s top swimmers, paddlers, surf skiers and runners will be on show in a new three-event super team series which will also be broadcast on Fox Sports.
Teams racing is at the heart of an international push for surf lifesaving to make its debut at the Olympics.
“A side effect is to try and help the sport get into the Olympics,’’ said Surf Life Saving Australia CEO Adam Weir. “But our motivator was to produce opportunities for our top athletes who might not be in the iron series.’’
The most radical change will be the creation of a stand-alone, invitation only Iron X event on Australia Day for surf stars and invited athletes, capitalising on the success of cross fit and other multi-endurance sports and designed to identify the toughest man and women in the country.
Along with traditional events such as surf skiing and board paddling, Iron X will also involve stand up paddling and beach battleground events such as a commando crawl, sand hill climb, rope and sand bag drags and rope climbing.
Weir, a former top swimmer and Australian surf life saving team captain, said he is prepared for mixed reaction to the Iron X series.
“Surf Life Saving is quite a traditional organisation. When you want to introduce something new, that can upset people,’’ he said.
“This is our chance to experiment, where we will see Surf Life Saving try things it wouldn’t normally do. It’s exciting.
“What we are trying to do is make the sport more relevant and more engaging.’’
Weir said the broadcast deal with Fox Sports for the entire Nutri-Grain series will bring sponsor attention and showcase the sports best to a new generation.
“I wanted to grow the sport from next season onwards. We need to be on TV to do that,’’ he said.
“We have to tell the stories of these athletes better. They really are heroes, they are incredible athletes. I think it’s a crying shame they are not known to the community like (Guy) Leech, (Trevor) Hendy, the Mercers (Darren and Dean) were in the past.
“The vision I have for this part of the sport is to create those heroes again. I want my kids to look up to heroes like this.’’
Series prizemoney will be higher than in recent years with a prize pool of $275,000 for the Nutri-Grain series across five rounds and $100,000 on offer in the IronX event set for January 26 at Marocyhdore.
With Fox Sport aboard, the 2019/20 Nutri-Grain series will mark the first time in years every round of the ironman and ironwoman racing will be broadcast live.
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TV: All rounds of the Nutri-Grain series will be broadcast live on Fox Sports. The stand-alone Nutri-Grain Iron X will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.
The Super Teams series will also be broadcast.
PROFESSIONAL SERIES:
Round 1: Coolangatta Gold, October 13, Coolangatta.
Round 2: November 17, Burleigh Heads.
Round 3: December 1, Bulli.
Round 4: December 15, Surfers Paradise,
Round 5: January 19, North Cronulla.
IRON X
A one-off, invitation only event on January 26, 2020,
Water events will include the traditional ironman legs of surf ski, board paddling, swimming and running along with Stand Up Paddling.
Battleground Elements may include, but are not limited to, a sandhill climb, super heavy 50m rope drag, A-frame walls with rope climb, 50m commando crawl, 100m heavy sandbag carry and monkey bars.
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