Grant Kenny’s feat inspires Gold Coast ironman champion Shannon Eckstein

SHANNON Eckstein is the greatest ironman in surf lifesaving history but the chance to emulate another of the sport’s greats at the scene of his most iconic moment has become a major motivation at the Australian titles on the Sunshine Coast.

Northcliffe ironman Shannon Eckstein is gunning for an eighth Australian title. Picture: Tim Marsden

SHANNON Eckstein is the greatest ironman in surf lifesaving history but the chance to emulate another of the sport’s greats at the scene of his most iconic moment has become a major motivation at the Australian titles on the Sunshine Coast.

Eckstein, a seven-time Australian ironman champion, will line up in the semi-finals of the event tomorrow where he will compete for a record eighth national ironman title.

With more world, Nutri-Grain series and national titles than any other competitor, Eckstein is already rated the greatest ironman of all time.

But he hopes to emulate the feat of one of the sport’s greats by winning an ironman title at Maroochydore.

The last time the Aussies was held at the Sunshine Coast, in 1980, Grant Kenny won the junior and senior ironman in one of the greatest moments in the sport.

It was an achievement yet to be repeated but the return to the same stretch of beach has Eckstein seeking his own iconic glory.

“I think the day he went back-to-back at Maroochydore was one of the top five days in putting the sport on the map,’’ Eckstein said.

“What he did here that day created a big buzz in the Australian sporting world and ironman ran off the back of that, so it’d be great to try and win on that beach.

“I did contemplate not doing the ironman at Aussies and just concentrate on doing some events I haven’t done, like the belt race or ski race, but I couldn’t sit back and watch (the ironman), I definitely want to do it.

“There are other events at the carnival that if you want a new challenge, that’s a new challenge, but the ironman’s obviously the one I’ve grown up loving and want to be in and while these younger guys are going really well, I want to try and match them.’’

Eckstein cruised through his heat and quarter-final to progress to tomorrow’s semi but knows he won’t have things all his own way, especially with the swim the last leg.

“The last two years I’ve kind of run away with it and haven’t been in any danger but this year, no matter what, with swim last, you can’t run away with it, so it’s going to be close right up until the end.

“We’ve had the heat and quarter-final and I got through no worries but watching Ali (Surfers Paradise’s state ironman champion Ali Day) and Pooley (Kurrawa’s Matt Poole), they finished ninth and 10th,’’ Eckstein said of the pair who scraped into the semis.

“They were leading the swim leg and a couple of waves came through.

“I do like swim last as an order but it does lead to some upsets every now and then.

“The swim is a bit more fickle than other legs. Waves can go past you and you don’t pick them up.

“On the board and ski you usually pick the wave up but in the swim, sometimes it goes past.

“With the sand they’ve pumped here at Maroochydore there’s some big sand banks and some big rips between them and it’s really tricky, so you’ve got to be at the right spot at the right time and use the right rips but sometimes you can’t depend on your draw.’’

Eckstein is swimming well though.

He will line up in the surf race semis and final today and was third in the restricted (over 24) swim race yesterday behind Manly’s Nathan Smith and Ethan Whiteman, from Redhead Beach.

In the other ironman quarter-finals yesterday Currumbin’s Hayden White won through, so too did the only man to beat Eckstein in this year’s Nutri-Grain series, round three winner Matt Bevilacqua from Kurrawa.