IronMan icon Caine Eckstein and F1 champ Mark Webber create new Dr Hydrate sports drink

A Formula 1 superstar and IronMan endurance icon have teamed up to create an unexpected sports product that might just be the “best in the world”.

A Formula 1 superstar and IronMan endurance icon have teamed up to create an unexpected sports product that might just be the “best in the world”.

Five-time Coolangatta Gold champion Caine Eckstein and nine-time Grand Prix winner Mark Webber have joined forces to create a new sports drink aimed at power-to-weight athletes.

The pair believe the sports hydration drink, Dr Hydrate, will become Australia’s new go-to hydration drink for high performance athletes and everyday people, including children, alike.

The Australian athletes met years ago at the Mark Webber Challenge in Tasmania, but it was a phone call in early 2022 that sparked the idea of an all-in-one sports drink.

Porsche Team: Mark Webber

Nutri-Grain ironman and Ocean6 round at Surfers Paradise. Caine Eckstein. Picture: Jerad Williams

“We wanted to create the best hydration drink in the world, and the best tasting drink,” Eckstein said.

“I wanted to create this drink that would help my power-to-weight ratio. Something that didn’t have all these calories, like food, but still replenishing me with all the vitamins and minerals and electrolytes, but also had L-Carnitine and Glutamine in it.

“I wanted to make this ‘super drink’ that I could have for the first half of the day, because I was doing 27 to 32km runs every second day with pull-ups after that.

“We tried everything out there and ours next to it, and if we didn’t think it was the best, we weren’t happy.”

The drink launched in Australia on Thursday online, but Webber said the pair have hopes to go into the international market eventually.

“It’s a warm climate in Australia and the consumer here are very knowledgeable, which we’re happy about because Australians want to have a selection of something that’s premium and good quality, but after that, knock yourself out,” Webber said.

“In terms of sports in Europe or the US, we’ve got so many great contacts and people where we know we can push the product when we need to and when the time is right.”

Webber said the main difference in Dr Hydrate and the many other sports drinks now on the market, was the low sugar and calories content.

“Calorie wise, you don’t need to be nervous,” Webber said.

“It’s great for someone like me because my sport was highly sensitive to weight, I needed to be lean and mean and couldn’t have a lot of unused calories.”

Caine Eckstein will be attempting the Guinness World Record for One Hour Pull-Ups. Picture: Richard Gosling

And the drink has been specifically formulated to assist Eckstein in becoming the world record holder in most pull-ups in 24 hours, and therefore possibly the greatest power-to-weight athlete in the world.

Eckstein will attempt the record, as well as the 12 hour record, on January 28 and 29 on the Gold Coast.

Eckstein had previously attempted to break the record live on The Today Show in June, 2022, but was unable to break the record due to the harsh studio lights and no-aircon in the studio.

The current holder for the 24 hour record is American Brandon Tucker, with 7715 pull-ups.

Eckstein currently holds the Guinness World Record for one hour pull-ups at 1131 pull-ups, and the eight hour record of 4710.

“Recently I did 4710 pull-ups in eight hours, so that’s pretty good. Looking at that I’m in good stead, but it’s a hard record to break.”

Dr Hydrate sports drink.