Nutri-Grain ironman Rd 3-4: Ali Day cracks win as chippie Ben Carberry holds overall lead

Ironman legend Ali Day admits he was contemplating a shock retirement less than a week ago. Now, one good race - and a long awaited win - has him rethinking the move.

Amanda Lulham

@amandalulham

4 min read

January 10, 2023 - 12:00AM

NewsLocal

Ali Day is back to his best.

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They raced each other as youngsters on the NSW south coast as teens and now Ben Carberry is celebrating leading the Nutri-Grain series and Ali Day savouring his first win on the famous surf life saving series for nearly a year.

After winning four rounds last series, Day had to wait until the fourth round of the current series at Maroubra to taste victory as his old mate Carberry consolidated his lead with a second place in round four.

The pair both grew up on the NSW south coast but are both now based at rival clubs Surfers Paradise and Burleigh Head on the Gold Coast.

Day said after the three-race survivor format he had told his wife on Monday he wanted to quit the sport.

“I was really struggling and 100 per cent I was doubting myself,’’ said Day, who has struggled to return to form in the wake of a re-injuring his calf in the Coolangatta Gold and a recent laceration to his foot.

Ali Day is back to his best after breaking through for his first win.

“I said to my wife I was over it and wanted to retiree. It gets hard when you can’t do your job.

“It’s amazing how good a win can make you feel. How one race can change everything. What a difference a few days make.

“It’s awesome to win and awesome to be feeling good. I feel like I’m getting back in my groove.’’

Day and Carberry beat Auden Parish from Northcliffe, Cooper Williams from Alexandra Headland and Joe Collins from Northcliffe on Sunday.

Ali Day in top form in the Summer of Surf series last year.

OVERALL IRONMAN STANDINGS AFTER ROUND FOUR

1 Ben CARBERRY Burleigh Head Mowbray Park 75

2 Ali DAY Surfers Paradise 72

3 Matt BEVILACQUA Northcliffe 68

4 Joe COLLINS Northcliffe 63

5 Cooper WILLIAMS Alexandra Headland 51

Ben Carberry on his way to winning round three at Maroubra.

CHIPPIE BEN CARBERRY WINS ROUND THREE OF NUTRI-GRAIN SERIES

Full-time carpenter and part-time athlete Ben Carberry nailed his sprint finish to claim round three of the Nutri-Grain ironman series at Maroubra beach on Saturday - and take the overall lead at the halfway point of the famous surf series.

The 28-year-old, originally from Warilla Barrack Point surf club on the NSW south coast before relocating to the Burleigh Heads club on the Gold Coast, came from 12 seconds down in the final race - where athletes started two seconds apart after seeding races - to claim the round honours.

“I think that’s my third win in the series and the best,’’ he said.

“I have to just put it down to training with Kingi (Michael King).

“And I think working full-time makes me appreciate what I do even more. Makes me manage my time well.’’

Ben Carberry was all smiles on the podium after the race.

Carberry beat Cooper Williams from Alex Headlands and defending series champion Ali Day from Surfers Paradise after a blistering sprint up the beach at the end of the third and deciding race of the event involving ski, board and swim legs.

But earlier it was Sydney schoolboy Connor Maggs who was turning heads with both his determination and a spectacular somersault in the surf.

Ben Carberry on his way to winning round three at Maroubra.

The athletic youngster from Sydney’s northern beaches body surfed to the shore in the second of three races before flipping over and landing on his feet so he could race up the beach.

Maggs was competing in only his third Nutri-Grain series round and clearly enjoying the experience.

Round four of the series will be raced at Maroubra on Sunday with a number of athletes then backing up for the interstate championships on Monday.

Going into round four Carberry leads overall from Matt Bevilacqua (Northcliffe), with Day third and Northcliffe duo Joe Collins and Cory Taylor fourth and fifth.

THE SURF LEGEND INSPIRING KIWI IRONMAN

EARLIER: New Zealand young gun Joe Collins was inspired to become an ironman by a bizarre incident as a kid involving a local race, a helicopter drop and an Aussie legend of the sport in Shannon Eckstein.

Now, almost sevens years on, the Taranaki born Collins is based in Australia and hoping to create a special piece of history in the famous Australian Nutri-Grain ironman surf series.

But Collins, son of former Waikato rugby prop Michael, had to ring his sister to verify his memory of the strange but life-changing incident when he was 14 was actually true and “not a dream’’.

“It was so surreal,’’ he said. “We were at this race and I was in the under 14s and this helicopter started to fly low over us and we all stopped racing to watch.

“Then Shannon Eckstein jumped out and paddled in. It was awesome. That’s my memory of it anyway.

Shannon Eckstein was dominant on the sand and in the surf before his retirement.

“That opened the floodgates for me. I knew what I wanted to do.’’

Further encounters with the now retired Matt Poole and the legendary Ali Day confirmed to the then teenager Collins ironman racing was in his destiny and he packed up and left home when just 18 to train and race on the Gold Coast.

Now, at 21, he has the goal of becoming the first international to end Australia's long domination of winning the Nutri-Grain series overall - if not this year then in the not to distant future.

“It is something I would love to do in my career,’’ said Collins, in fourth place heading into round three and four of the Nutri-Grain series at Maroubra this weekend after a fourth and fifth in the opening weekend of racing in early January.

New Zealander Joe Collins moved to BMD Northcliffe to pursue his ironman dream.

IRONWOMAN HANDING BUSINESS HERSELF

IRONMAN’S BIZARRE INJURY

Collins, who said he has long idolised multiple ironman series winner Ali Day, beat him for the first time in round two of the series in late December.

“When I first made the series he was like a god to me,’’ said Collins, who in 2020/21 finished third overall, the best placed rookie in history.

“Now he’s a man and we are challenging.’’