Nutri-Grain Ironman 2021: Shannon Eckstein leads praise for Ali Day after historic victory at Kingscliff
Ali Day has done what even the greatest of all time could not, by claiming a historic clean sweep in the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series.
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LEGENDARY ironman Shannon Eckstein has hailed Ali Day’s historic Nutri-Grain Ironman Series win as “one of the greatest comebacks in sport” after Day became the first-ever to claim a series clean sweep just 18 months after injury threatened to end his career.
Day achieved what many long considered impossible when he crossed the line in first at Kingscliff on Sunday for the sixth-consecutive race, completing a series clean sweep that had previously never been achieved – even by nine-time champion Eckstein.
“I had five wins and one second, twice,” said Eckstein, who retired in 2019 as the undisputed greatest ironman of all time.
“I know how very, very hard it is to do. I won nine series, but I never had a perfect year in the Kellogg’s. That’s very hard to do.
“I heard someone say he had seven race wins in his last 10 years of racing, so to come out and win six in a row is a big step up.”
It was Day’s third series victory, following success in 2014-15, when he pipped Eckstein for the crown, and 2018-19.
He joins Eckstein (9), Darren Mercer (7), Zane Holmes (5) and Dean Mercer (4) as the only ironmen to have won three or more series since its inception in 1986.
“With the Kingscliff surf, or lack of surf, it was probably a good year to try and win the six. It probably got rid of a lot of the variables,” Eckstein said.
“When you’re the best guy in the race you always want the least variables so that you can go out there and dominate, and that’s what Ali did.
“His swimming was just so much faster than everyone else and when you’re in those conditions, no one will catch you.”
But beyond Day’s history-making feat, Eckstein was most impressed that his former rival was lining up on the beach at Kingscliff at all.
It was in July 2019 that Day, posing for a promotional shoot for novelty event Iron X, slipped from some monkey bars and broke both his wrists.
Many, Day included, wondered if he would ever race again.
“More than anything it’s just incredible he’s come back to win, by getting through the trial and then winning that first race, that was amazing,” Eckstein said.
“There were rumours going around that Ali was in a lot of trouble and may never race again. It’s just incredible that he’s gotten back to where he is now.
“He would have been fighting a lot of demons and dark times. I’ve had a couple of little injuries myself – the tedious rehab you have to go through (is tough), and that’s before training and getting back to full fitness.
“(Day’s) is one of the greatest comebacks I think in sport, to have come back from double broken wrists in a gruelling sport like ours is nothing short of incredible.”
Only 16 days earlier, Day had dedicated his opening round victory to wife Kel, newborn son Danny and the support crew that guided him through the dark days when he wondered whether a return to racing was possible.
His goal then – to get a single post-race victory photo with Danny before he retired – was in hindsight a relatively modest one. But it spoke to the incredible effort and sacrifice Day endured to be on the beach at Kingscliff at all, let alone go on to make history.
“It’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through,” Day said of his journey back from injury.
“It means so much to me just to be here on the start line, but to win a series – win six races – and do it in front of my mum and dad, my sister, my wife, my wife’s family and my sponsors … so many people have helped me get to the start line today and that was ultimately for them.”
But Day’s greatest inspiration was Danny. For all his previous accomplishments, which included two ironman series wins and a six Coolangatta Gold titles, Day had another – greater – reason to succeed.
“He’s my good luck charm,” Day said.
“(Since Danny’s birth) I’ve won the trial down here at Kingscliff and then I’ve gone on to win the next races. Now I have a lot more to fight for and inspire me and drive me.
“Looking at Danny in his eyes each morning I would tell myself ‘I’m going to work for him today’. That’s been my biggest motivating factor.”
But in the water on Sunday, as Day hit the beach in transition for the final leg of the gruelling eliminator event, he had another person at the forefront of his mind.
“It was all about getting myself in the box seat today – getting through the first race, getting through the second race and then in the last one really going for it,” he said.
“I was really inspired by someone like Shannon Eckstein. I’ve done a lot of races with him before and in the last (leg) he would just always turn it on.
“I had moments in the ski leg thinking ‘I’m going to win, I’m going to win’ but as an athlete you always have to go back to the process. And I did. But once I saw my brother on the beach and hi-fived him, then I saw my coach, and saw Trev (Trevor Hendy), that’s when the elation and the emotion of the moment hit me.”
The Surfers Paradise ironman promised to be back again next year, ready to chase a fourth series title and edge closer to Eckstein’s incredible – untouchable – record.
“He’s won nine. I’ll never catch Shannon,” Day laughed.
“He’s inspired me. Inspired me to keep going. That first (series win) felt a bit like a fluke all those years ago, and the second one maybe also a fluke – to win three, now I know it’s not a fluke anymore.
“When I came back the goal was to win a round. But I also wanted to leave a legacy for my family, and that’s by winning a series.
“I won my first one when I was 23 I think and now I’m almost 31. They’re hard to win; to do it six out of six is a pretty good way to do it.”
‘One of the best ever’: Rivals in awe with fifth-straight win for Day
From February 27, 2021 - Nic Darveniza
JY TIMPERLEY had the best seats in the house to the latest masterclass in Ali Day’s extraordinary comeback.
In the race for second place at Kingscliff Timperley finished second to Matt Bevilacqua but neither could lay a finger to the undefeated Day, now just one event win from the first ever Ironman Series clean sweep.
“I think Ali is the ultimate professional in our sport,” the Burleigh Heads clubbie said.
“Even at the moment I consider him one of the best ever.
“He could retire this year and he’d be in the top three ever to do it.”
Timperley, a relative baby at 22, is happy to take inspiration from Day even if it means joining him a step lower on the podium.
Timperley prefers to chase down his heroes anyway.
On Saturday he overcame starting 11th, racing up into sixth for the final sprint to the beach.
In a field of five chasing silver Timperley outran all but Bevilacqua to join Day at the top.
“I quite enjoy the chase,” the softly-spoken Ironman said.
“When I get to those Ironman-type races I just seem to go the whole time, which is my strength.
“I don’t prefer to be out in front, I prefer to go after them and really give everything I could.
“There were about four or five of us running for second to sixth so I got up and ran for my life.”
Timperley‘s comfort in the chase stems from a strong sense of self-belief sharpened by sessions with a sports psychologist.
“Especially in the last few years, I’ve been this good but I’ve never really had that belief and I don’t know why,” he said.
“I’ve started seeing a good sports psychologist in the last two months and it’s paid dividends.
“I have coping mechanisms if I’m back which has changed my whole mindset to not having any pressure.
“I’m finding ways to get myself to enjoy racing and when I’m happy the results just come.”
While the summer of 2021 has been all about Ali Day, Timperley is waiting for his chance to shine.
“I only just turned 22 so I can be around this sport for the next 10 or so years,” he said.
“If my name can be in the same sentence as Ali’s (in 10 years) than yeah, I’d be stoked.”
That won’t stop him from trying to spoil Day’s party ahead of the final event at Kingscliff on Sunday.
HISTORIC WIN: ALI DAY ON CUSP OF GREATEST-EVER IRONMAN FEAT
JUST as the world was getting used to Ali Day’s dominance he raised the bar yet again.
The Surfers Paradise SLSC ironman is now just two round wins shy of a historic Nutri-Grain Ironman Series cleansweep, following a Round 4 victory at Kingscliff on Friday that showcased just how special the two-time series champion truly is.
Day finished a full minute and a half clear of Jy Timperley and Cory Taylor to extend his winning run to four from four rounds – inching him closer to an unthinkable series cleansweep that has so far never been achieved.
That Day, 30, is on the cusp of history is in itself impressive, before considering he only returned to competitive racing this month after almost two years sidelined with broken wrists.
Day’s return to the Ironman Series was heralded even before his opening round win, which he dedicated to his family and three-month-old son, Danny.
Since then it’s been a battle for second at Kingscliff, with Day’s superhuman fitness placing him well above his contemporaries, who themselves are regarded as some of the fittest and toughest athletes in the world.
Day is, put simply, just built different. When the rest of the field was hurting, he was grinning – his incredible mental fortitude laid bare in the post-race interview.
“I tried to make the most of those pressure moments to open my lead a little bit and make life a little bit easier,” Day said.
“I tried to drop the gears when I could, and pick them up when I needed to – I’ve done a lot of those Enduro races before in training.
“But it’s all in the mindset, you want to enjoy the moment – I’ve just won four races in row. I’ve never done that before and I don’t know if I ever will again.
“It hasn’t really sunk in to be honest, and it probably won’t,” he added.
“It hasn’t even sunk in that I won today, and that I also won three rounds two weeks ago.”
Spare a thought for Burleigh Heads ironman Timperley, who has stood on the podium next to Day at the end of each round and is still five points adrift in second.
BMD Northcliffe duo Cory Taylor (66 points) and Joe Collins (64) are likely too far back to post a threat to Day, barring a disaster.
Newport’s Jackson Borg, entered Friday’s race in third overall, finished a disappointing 14th and is also now likely out of the title race.
“The guys like Jy and Borgy … I’m not sure of the points, but it’s only human to think about them,” Day said.
“I’ve been in this position before so I know that will really aid me over the next couple of days. I’ll come back (on Saturday), put my foot on the start line again and go for it.”
Round 5 from Kingscliff begins Saturday, 12pm local time.
‘I want to be the one’: Borg puts Ali Day in his sights
From February 25, 2021 - Callum Dick
TWO years ago Jackson Borg was being shuffled in and out of the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series as an alternate – now he’s one of the competition leaders tasked with running down the seemingly unbeatable Ali Day.
Bring it on, he says.
In his first full series last year Borg finished 11th; entering the restructured 2021 format the Newport SLSC ironman set himself a goal of a top six finish, which he quickly had to re-evaluate.
“I was aiming for top six but once I got second on the first day I said I have to roll with this and see where it takes me,” the 22-year-old said.
“I’ve always known I could be up there, I just wasn’t getting the results. Now I have the results to show I deserve to be up there, and I want to keep going with it.
“It was all about experience really. Now I know what I need to do to be more consistent.”
Back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the ensuing two rounds positioned Borg in third overall heading into the week off, and it’s there he finds himself, seven points shy of Day in first, ahead of a return to action at Kingscliff on Friday.
“I’d definitely love to be the one to catch him,” Borg said of Day.
“He’s putting on a clinic at the moment but if I can reduce a few of the small errors and not let him dictate the race like he did last weekend (I can do it).
“I don’t reckon he’ll get a clan sweep. I think some of us would take that quite personally. I’m sure someone will get him, and I want to be the one that does it.”
Borg finished runner-up to Day in Round 1 and the M-Shape Endurosurf format makes a return for Round 4 on Friday.
Borg said he had learned from his failings in the first go around and was ready to make amends.
“I was close to Ali in the M-Shape last time and this time I want to be right there with him,” he said.
“I took a rest when I jumped on my ski in the first (leg) and that’s when he got away from me. I should have pushed up and not let him get comfortable.”
How 18yo Kiwi is taking it up to his idols turned rivals
From February 24, 2021 – Callum Dick
IT WAS as he stood next to Ali Day on the podium following a third-place finish in Round 2 of the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series that Joe Collins had one of many recent “pinch myself” moments.
The first came a day earlier when Collins, 18, stood on the beach at Kingscliff surrounded by the biggest names in the sport, preparing to hit the surf for his maiden Ironman Series race.
Day captured all the headlines when the two-time series champion marked his comeback with a race win – the first in his triple-crown for the weekend – but not far back, in fifth, was first-timer Collins.
The next day he claimed third, and stood on the podium beside Day, before a sixth-place finish rounded out an incredible debut weekend for the youngster out of New Plymouth in New Zealand.
“When I was younger and first found out about the series, Ali was hitting top form and he was one of the people I supported. To see him next to me on the podium was a very big thing,” Collins said.
He enters Round 4 on Friday ranked fourth overall, 11 points shy of Day, who he admits will take plenty of catching.
“I think he (Day) probably wins. But I don’t think he’ll win every race of the series – we won’t let him do that,” Collins declared.
While he concedes top spot may be out of his reach, the young Kiwi’s focus is on the private battle he and BMD Northcliffe clubmate Cory Taylor are waging not far down the table.
Through three rounds Collins boasts 49 points – Taylor has 48.
Taylor, 27, is another Kiwi competitor who crossed the Tasman to pursue his ironman dreams and it is in his footsteps Collins follows.
“He and Max Beattie were both massive influences in why I moved over here. To see (Taylor) win a couple of rounds last year and the year before really made it look possible for the younger generation in New Zealand,” Collins said.
“Now we’re battling for top spot among the New Zealanders. But outside of racing we’re very good mates. He’s still teaching and guiding me.”
Having already exceeded his own lofty expectations to sit fourth heading into Round 4, Collins’ goals remain humble – learn from the experience and maybe snag another podium finish.
“A return to the podium would be nice. But the big thing for me will be using the experience from the previous (rounds) to race better.
“I think all the nerves have worn of now and I’m just excited and ready to go.”
’I’m just stoked to win’: Long time coming for Maynard
From February 20, 2021 – Callum Dick
SO LONG has it been between drinks for Currumbin SLSC’s Jackson Maynard that his new-found $20,000 payday was to him “like a little sweetener” on top of taking out the Shannon Eckstein Classic on Saturday.
Maynard came from the clouds in the final ski leg at BMD Northcliffe to beat out North Bondi’s Charlie Verco and home club hero Matt Poole and win the richest surf lifesaving race in the country.
Maynard hit the beach at the same time as Poole but had the inside run to the line, crossing with mere metres to spare over his rival, after Verco had earlier lost the lead when he gambled on a wave and lost in the race to the beach.
“I haven’t won something in a very long time so for this, it’s like a little sweetener with the 20 grand,” Maynard said.
“It’s just the prestige of this race, really. Shannon was a hero of mine as a kid. To win this race in front of this crowd … hopefully all of you come to the series next weekend because this was amazing.”
The packed crowd in the pop-up amphitheatre at BMD Northcliffe urged Maynard and Poole on in their sprint to the line, with the former declaring he was ready to “do it all again” after the warm reception.
“I love it. This is exactly what our sport should be,” Maynard said.
“It should be six to eight-foot (swells) and absolutely pumping. I don’t think anyone here was uninterested.
“It was amazing to see – and how loud was that finish? Big thanks to everyone for coming out, it was unreal.
“Like I said, I haven’t won in a long time so I’m just stoked about winning to be honest.”
All Day and every day: Ali Day doubles down on Ironman return
From February 13, 2021
Ali Day backed up to deliver consecutive wins in the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series opener, with the 30 year old delivering one of the best sporting comebacks in recent memory.
After more than 670 days on the sideline due to injury and COVID-19, Day looked unstoppable in his first two outings, comfortably taking his second win to leave his rivals for dust.
Day crossed the line to be greeted by his wife and new born baby son, Danny, which was the icing on the cake for the Ironman star – again.
“Dads that I train with have said you get dad strength so hopefully that is rubbing off with me,” said Day.
“It feels so good to just be back out there again, the body pulled up really well from yesterday.
“As much as it is the super sprint it is a lot of endurance as well. I knew that if I could get the first few races away and be in an okay position going into the last race I knew I would go all right.
“I’m pumped to come away with another win,” he said.
Day knows the rest of the field will now be on a mission to topple the two time Ironman Series champion.
“The pressure is on and there is a target on my back, everyone is looking to knock me off. The whole reason I do this sport is I love it but want to be challenged as well.”
Lana Rogers joined Day as a back-to-back champion, winning two of three sprint Ironwoman races including the final, where she beat out local hero Georgia Miller, who improved on an eighth placed finish on Friday.
The Nutri-Grain Ironwoman racing returns tomorrow, Sunday 14 February, with the third round Survival – three separate, 12-minute long Iron races starting with 20 competitors, with the last six finishers in each race eliminated, until eight are left in the final race.
MEN’S RESULTS
1. DAY, Ali, AD; 2. TIMPERLEY, Jy, JT; 3. COLLINS, Joe JC; 4. BORG, Jackson, JB; 5. BEVILACQUA, Matt, MB; 6. TAYLOR, Cory, CT; 7. MORRIS, Zach, ZM; 8. ASKEW, Finn, FA; 9. COLLINS, Dan, DC; 10. GOULD, Wes, WG
WOMEN’S RESULTS
1. ROGERS, Lana, LR; 2. MILLER, Georgia, GM; 3. MCKENZIE, Danielle, DM; 4. WELBORN, Lizzie, LW; 5. BROWN, Harriet, HB; 6. MASSIE, Tiarnee, TM; 7. HALLIDAY, Tayla, TH; 8. SMITH, JS; 9. HANCOCK Courtney, CH; 10. SCULLY, Hannah, HS
EARLIER
SURFERS Paradise ironman Ali Day’s driving motivation for a return to the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series was a post-win photo with his three-month-old son, Danny.
It took him just one start to get there.
Looking pretty in pink, Day announced his long-awaited ironman return with an emphatic Round 1 win at Kingscliff today.
Donning the colour of a qualifier, something the two-time champion has not done for more than a decade, Day looked every bit the man who claimed the 2018-19 crown before the freak accident in July 2019 that kept him sidelined for almost 18 months.
Looking remarkably composed for a man who had just blitzed a field of the fittest athletes in the country, Day briefly let his emotions show when discussing his road back from injury.
“The expectation is probably the expectation I put on myself, because I know how much it means to me and how hard I’ve worked,” the 30-year-old said.
“I just wanted to go out there and soak it up and execute the race plan I went out there to do.
“For those people like my sponsors, friends and family – especially my family and my little baby boy.
“I said to myself I wanted to make it back to the series and win one race while he’s here so I can get a photo with him afterwards.”
Not five minutes later Day had his photo – the perfect end to an impressive performance.
In the gruelling 40-minute Endurosurf, Day moved to the front in the first board leg and retained the lead for the remainder of the race.
A brief board battle with 2017-18 champion Matt Bevilacqua ensued, and Newport up-and-comer Jackson Borg later threatened, but Day built a commanding lead in the second swim leg that was never headed and from there, his return victory secured.
“In the second swim I went to the front and from there I tried to focus on myself,” he said.
“I got a couple of waves on the shore and that led to another and then it was just about working hard.
“I felt really good. It always hurts, not matter how fit and how hard you train, but I felt good the whole way and felt like I made good decisions.
“Now it’s about going back out and doing it again tomorrow.”
2021 NUTRI-GRAIN IRONMAN SERIES ROUND 1 –
1 Ali Day (Surfers Paradise) 20pts
2 Jackson Borg (Newport) 19pts
3 Jy Timperley (Burleigh Heads/Mowbray Park) 18pts
4 Cory Taylor (Northcliffe) 17pts
5 Joe Collins (Northcliffe) 16pts
6 Zach Morris (Newport) 15pts
7 TJ Hendy (Surfers Paradise) 14pts
8 Wes Gould (Kurrawa) 13pts
9 Jackson Maynard (Currumbin) 12pts
10 Dan Collins (Redhead) 11pts
11 Matt Bevilacqua (Northcliffe) 10pts
12 Matt Poole (Northcliffe) 9pts
13 Finn Askew (Surfers Paradise) 8pts
14 Nathan Gray (Surfers Paradise) 7pts
15 Hayden White (Currumbin) 6pts
16 Jay Furniss (Cronulla) 5pts
17 Isaac Smith (Newport) 4pts
18 Tanyn Lyndon (Kurrawa) 3pts
19 Ky Kinsela (Burleigh Heads/Mowbray Park) 2pts
20 Cooper Williams (Alexandra Headland) DNF 0pts
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