Former Bate Bay athlete Lana Rogers secured her first ever race win as North Cronulla hosted rounds five and six of the Nutri-Grain Ironman and Ironwoman series over the weekend.
Rogers, a Cronulla junior, came first in round six on Sunday ahead of Georgia Miller and Lizzie Welborn.
“I grew up on this beach and have been racing here for so long and really know the surf,” Rogers said.
“I knew the waves were breaking better in one corner so I tried to head there and I managed to do that.”
Max Brooks also earned his first victory in the Ironman race.
It was a day to remember for Matt Bevilacqua and Brielle Cooper, with the superstar couple crowned Ironman and Ironwoman series champions.
The athletes raced in an eliminator format which saw Cooper knocked out in the first race and left wondering if she would even make it on the podium. But she didn’t have to wait long before it was announced that she had taken out the series, narrowly beating last season’s winner Harriet Brown on a count back. Brown and Cooper finished with 386 points with Cooper taking the crown due to her early first place race results.
“Oh wow, I am so excited. With today’s result I didn’t think that I had the chance,” Cooper said.
“This season has been such a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I missed out on qualifying for the first race but then went on to win the next race and it continued along that way. I never thought this would happen today, not at 18. I can’t believe it.
“I never thought at the start of the season that I could achieve this. I wanted to prove this year that I deserve to be in the series so I put everything into my training. But I didn’t think I’d win. I absolutely love this sport. I love getting up in the morning for swimming. I don’t find it hard. It is not a chore so that makes it easier to train and I hope I always keep that.”
Bevilacqua was ecstatic with his win.
“It was so close today and I still can’t believe it. It has been five years in the Nutri-Grain series and today’s win means it is worth every second of that hard work and training in the dark through winter. It is so worth it,” he said.
“I did feel some pressure after seeing Brielle win the Nutri-Grain series title. It was incredible to watch her today and my heart was in my mouth but I’m lucky I am able to switch on and off from her to me and you have to be able to focus on yourself when it comes to your race.
“Our sport is like no other. We have to be super fit over 30 minutes but you also have to be razor sharp at the start so I do struggle in the first few races of an eliminator but then I feel so good in the last race.
“I’ve had so much support and my training partner (Matt Poole) and (Ali Day) and (Kendrick Louis) are all good mates and moving up from Tassie when I was 18-years-old and leaving my family behind has been easier because of them. Everyone in the series are mates because we are all the same people. It’s a great sport and it was good to have my mum and younger brothers up here today with me.”