Nutri-Grain ironman Ben Carberry in league of his own after switch back to surf from rugby

Ironman Ben Carberry has tackled one of the biggest weight loss program ever seen in elite surf lifesaving after opting against pursuing a career in rugby league to return to the surf.

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Ironman Ben Carberry has tackled one of the biggest weight loss program ever seen in elite surf lifesaving after opting against pursuing a career in rugby league to return to the surf.

The full-time carpenter and son of former Steelers and Rabbitohs player Michael Carberry spent the off-season working to shed the 13 kilos he piled on to play rugby league with the Burleigh Bears in 2018.

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Carberry, now one of the stars of the Nutri-Grain ironman series, last year made waves for the Bears, offered a position in first grade and rated one of the fittest prop in the game.

Ben Carberry is now fourth overall in the Nutri-Grain series.

Michael Carberry grabbing Max Krilich (ball) during a match between Manly and Souths in 1983.

But the former Albion Park lifesaver, who played rugby league in the Wollongong area growing up, realised it was surf lifesaving he wanted to pursue as a sport.

“I played at school, stopped for four years and started playing again when 18. Then I moved to the Gold Coast and started up again but found I just couldn’t juggle both sports,’’ said Carberry, 24, one of the top athletes in this season’s Nutri-Grain ironman series.

“I had to eventually choose and I chose surf. It’s the lifestyle, being able to train at the beach, being round all my friends.

“The problem playing was that to be in the front row you have to be 110kg. I got up to 108 and I’m now racing at 95 kilos but I had to work to get it off.

Ben Carberry and fellow competitor Tanyn Lyndon are also carpenters.

“I put it on a lot faster that it came off.

“I was doing three sessions a day and working and it took around three months but I feel I’m about where I need to be now.’’

The weight drop and decision to focus on one sport has paid dividends with Carberry enjoying a breakout season and heading into the Surfers Paradise round of the Nutri-Grain series just outside the top three.

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Carberry is positioned behind overall series leader Ali Day, Kendrick Louis and Matt Poole and well within range of moving onto the podium with a good result on Saturday and the finale at Wanda Beach in February.

Coolangatta Gold champion Day is favourite for the round with the ironwomen’s racing boasting four different winners in previous rounds.

Series leader Georgia Miller will be absent from the round, opening the way for second placed Maddy Dunn to jump into the lead.