Georgia Miller and Ali Day celebrated their respective Nutri-Grain IronWoman and IronMan Series victories at Wanda Beach on Saturday.
Wanda Surf Lifesaving Club hosted the sixth and final round of the Nutri-Grain Ironperson series on Friday and Saturday as well as the final of the Ocean 6 Series.
Cyclone Oma tested the skills of the elite athletes as they raced in four to five foot waves in cold, wet and windy conditions.
In the IronWoman race, all the stars aligned for Miller to be crowned champion for the first time.
After missing the fifth round to attend her sister's wedding, Miller needed to win the race and have training partner Maddy Dunn finish seventh or worse.
Miller showed her class to win the race, with Dunn crossing the line in eighth allowing the reigning Coolangatta Gold champion to secure the trophy.
“I just wanted to do the best I could in these tough conditions. The surf was huge and I had no idea where Maddy was in that race. Just trying to get out through the break was enough to think about let alone thinking about where everyone else was,” Miller said.
“I felt great today and Floody [coach Naomi Flood] gave me extra motivation just before the race telling me it was this time exactly 10 years ago that she won her first IronWoman Series.
"The move to Queensland has been such a great change for me. I really needed it and it has paid off. I train with an amazing group of girls that I love racing against.
"Floody is my idol and I’ve been watching her race since I was little and I just can’t believe that I am now here having won my first title. It’s awesome.”
In the IronMan race, Day won the race to be crowned champion for the second time, a massively different feeling to the one he endured last season after he lost the title on a countback.
“I stood on this beach after the finals last year so upset as I was so close to winning and I had put everything into it but I lost to a countback which was really hard," Day said.
"This year I was almost too scared to put it all on the line and go for broke incase it happened again but I have some really good people around me who said I had to keep doing it and so I did and I haven’t looked back.
“I pretty much started training for this straight after that race last year and it’s hard to get on the podium once but to do it twice and win two Nutri-Grain Series is awesome.
“I learnt by not winning last year that this is what happens in sport and sometimes you are not going to win and that’s ok but I knew that if I kept turning up and doing all this hard work that I would walk away with a series title again and it is so good and such a relief as I have thought about it this moment every day for the last year.”
Wanda's Hayden Allum was the best of the locals, finishing seventh in Saturday's race.
It was also the final time fans would have the chance to see IronMan legend Shannon Eckstein compete in a professional capacity.
After 34 individual race wins across 19 series - and nine IronMan titles - Eckstein finished fifth on the day to finish 10th in his final series after announcing his retirement.
The NSW Surf Lifesaving Championships start at Blacksmiths Beach on Friday with the Age Championships (March 1 to 3), with the Masters Championships (March 6 to 7) and Open Championships (March 8 to 10) to follow.
The Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships, 'the Aussies', will be held at North Burleigh and Broadbeach in Queensland starting on March 30.
