Poole chases aquatic goals but says ironman series remains top priority

MATT Poole says ironman racing remains his No.1 priority but the slashed Nutri-Grain series has allowed him to chase goals in other sports.

Matt Poole has won the ironman at the second round of the Summer of Surf.

MATT Poole says ironman racing remains his No.1 priority but the slashed Nutri-Grain series has allowed him to chase goals in other sports.

Kurrawa’s Poole executed the perfect race plan in flat conditions to snare ironman honours in Round 2 of the Summer of Surf series at Newport Beach on Saturday.

Poole beat home beach hero Max Brooks, Burleigh’s Tanyn Lyndon and Northcliffe’s Shannon Eckstein, with Manly’s Jay Furniss, who was among the leaders early, finishing fifth.

“It was much the same as Alex unfortunately,’’ Poole said of the conditions matching the opening round at Alexandra Headland.

“The heat on the Friday was in really fun conditions and then Saturday we woke up to offshore winds, dead flat and an absolute battle.

“Whenever you get a race like that it’s very exciting because everyone from first to 20th is close and it’s very hard to break open the field and it becomes very much a tactical race.’’

Poole’s plan to stick with the lead group through the race without having to make the running paid off when he was able to stand first after the final board race and win the run up the beach to the line.

“I just wanted to put myself at the front and then make a late charge at the end and pretty much I played that plan pretty well perfectly,’’ Poole said.

“It was a game of cat and mouse between three or four of us — Shannon (Eckstein), myself, Jay Furniss and Maxy Brooks — and we were kind of swapping the lead back and forth and fortunately in the board right at the end I made a little push before the shoreline and got to my feet first to give myself the best opportunity in a sprint finish.’’

The win was a boon for Poole, who is juggling training for endurance ocean tests in Fiji and Tahiti over the next month, with training for short-form ironman racing.

“I’m loving the Summer of Surf formats and competition at the moment,’’ Poole said.

“But I’m also heading over to Fiji on Friday to compete for Australia in the ISA (paddleboard) Games and I’ll also be heading over to Bora Bora in Tahiti in December to compete in an ocean event over there which is a really extreme event, it’s going to be a real slog and I need to prepare myself for that.

“Certainly my ironman racing is my first focus but I’m also doing a lot of other events and racing over the next month.’’

While he laments the decimation of the Nutri-Grain series, Poole is making the most of the chance to expand his horizons.

“There’s no doubt about it, I’d much prefer to have a professional ironman series made up of multiple rounds over different locations and different weekends on live TV and we’d all want that,’’ he said.

“But unfortunately, we’re into the one weekend.

“I’ve got some great sponsors and I’m fortunate enough that I’ve been able to go out and cross over into some other sports and other styles of racing and I’m making the most of that for sure.’’

But ironman racing will remain his priority.

“Definitely the ironman series is always my No. 1 priority. The Summer of Surf, at the moment I’m really enjoying that style of racing and the format and locations we get to go to,’’ he said.

“And the Kellogg’s series in February that weekend will be a big focus for me and I certainly want to be at 100 per cent fitness for that.’’