Tasmanian ironman Matt Bevilacqua closes in on his dream
TASMANIAN Matt Bevilacqua is not going to change the relaxed attitude he believes has him on the cusp of a maiden Nutri-Grain ironman title.
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TASMANIAN Matt Bevilacqua is not going to change the relaxed attitude he believes has him on the cusp of a maiden Nutri-Grain ironman title.
Bevilacqua and former Nutri-Grain champion Ali Day are locked in a battle for the title, with Mermaid Beach’s James Lacy also in the running.
But with Lacy slightly off the pace once athletes discard their worst result of the season, the race comes down to a head-to-head showdown between Day and Bevilacqua at Cronulla on Sunday.
It seems a stressful situation for Bevilacqua, who has a maiden title in his sights.
But the Kurrawa ironman could hardly be more relaxed.
“It’s just another opportunity to race, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “The nerves just aren’t there.
“And I think that’s why I’ve gone so well this season.”
He may be relaxed but Bevilacqua is far from complacent, even against great mate Day, with whom he trained for several years.
“Ali’s been a close friend of mine for years now,” Bevilacqua said of the ironman now racing in the Surfers Paradise cap.
“It’s cool to fight out a title with a mate. You’re complete rivals on the water but then you come back and I’ll celebrate with him just as he will with me if we win either way.”
Bevilacqua watched another great mate, Kurrawa clubmate Matt Poole, claim the title at North Cronulla last season and can hardly believe he is in a position to do the same on Sunday.
“I’ve built through since I moved from Tassie, it’s been a really rapid acceleration and I haven’t really had a chance to think about it,” he said.
“I always had aspirations and these crazy dreams of winning a series title but this is the first crack I’ve had at one. Ali’s won one already and he’s been second twice already, so he’s been there for a while and I think it’s really fresh for me and I haven’t got my head around it yet.
“But I’m stoked to be in this position and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
Day will not give Bevilacqua an inch once the gun goes off but was full of praise for his mate this week. “I was lucky enough to watch him grow into the athlete he is today,” Day said.
“He’s got such an incredible story. When he first came up from Tasmania and he trained with the likes of me, Pooley and Kendrick [Louis] at Mooloolaba, you would not have expected him to do what he has. He’s done so well and it just goes to show how much he’s worked for these Kellogg’s victories.
“He was in the Australian team this year, he’s won Molokai back-to-back and he’s going to do a hell of a lot more in this sport because I believe he’s one of the best workers I’ve seen.
“As much as there’s a rivalry, there’s not. Whatever happens, one of us is going to be happy for the other.”
CONQUERING COUPLE DETERMINED TO MAKE HISTORY
MATT Bevilacqua has worked out every possible way he can win the Nutri-Grain ironman title at Cronulla this weekend, but girlfriend Brielle Cooper doesn’t want to know who or what is standing in her way.
The pair head a changing of the guard in the sport, which this season has seen three different winners in the men’s racing and three of the five rounds of ironwoman racing won by teenagers.
Now the surf partners are bidding to become the first couple ever to win the top professional series for surf lifesavers at the season finale at North Cronulla tomorrow.
“That would be pretty special for sure,” said Cooper, at 18, the second youngest winner of a round this year.
Bevilacqua admits he is more nervous for Cooper at races than she is, so much so he now forgoes his warm-up.
“She is young but very cool-headed, she is very, very chilled and calm,” Bevilacqua said. “I get more nervous for her than I do for myself. I don’t even have to go for a warm-up for my race because my heart rate is going so fast.”
Cooper has been a revelation after last year earning a wildcard into what was just a two-day series and finishing near last.
This season she has won two of the five rounds contested but says she has been able to take her sudden success this season in her stride.
“To be honest I didn’t expect to be in this position for a couple of years,” she said.
— AMANDA LULHAM
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