Shannon Eckstein refuses to drop standards in chase for 9th Nutri-Grain ironman title

SHANNON Eckstein is not willing to drop his lofty standards as he pushes into uncharted territory chasing a ninth Nutri-Grain ironman series title.

Shannon Eckstein

SHANNON Eckstein is not willing to drop his lofty standards as he pushes into uncharted territory chasing a ninth Nutri-Grain ironman series title.

Holding a 15-point lead over nearest rival, Kurrawa’s Matt Bevilacqua, heading into the final two rounds at North Cronulla, Eckstein can likely afford a couple of lacklustre results on the way to the crown.

But after winning three of the four races in the series to date, and finishing second in the other, he has no intention of dropping his standards.

“Round five (today) is obviously big for me, if I can perform well there and do well, it’d be nice to wrap it up and not have any pressure going into round six (tomorrow),’’ Eckstein said.

“If I were to win round five I’d be 18 points up (on second place) and it would pretty much be done.

“It’d take the pressure off but I’ve had a really good series so far and I don’t want to take away from where I am now.

“Three wins and a second, I’d like to keep that trend going and stay on the podium, so I’m not going out to finish fourth and (say) that’s good enough, I’ll be out to win and try and finish the series off well.’’

Eckstein has been waiting almost two years for a decent swell in the series and it seems it will finally arrive today at North Cronulla beach.

Ironically, it’s when the Northcliffe legend would prefer flat conditions.

“Saturday looks like we’re going to have the most swell we’ve had all year in the racing,’’ he said.

“Normally I’d say that’s great and you’d welcome that but when you’re leading a series you probably want it flat to finish off the series to get the result.

“In this sport you can only put yourself in positions to win the race though and that’s what I try and do.

“Sometimes the luck goes against you and so be it — you have a fifth or sixth and you couldn’t do anything better on the day.

“You can’t get too carried away with the result, it’s more about putting yourself in the position to win and I’ll be doing that.’’

Eckstein’s series loss to now-Surfers Paradise ironman Ali Day last season put fire in his belly and has been at least partly responsible for his resurgence.

“Sometimes you have to have those knocks and if I’d won the series I don’t think I’d be in the position I am now.

“I’ve raced really well probably due to that loss.’’