Wanda IronWoman, Britney Pierce, ready for second series appearance

Pierce qualified for the series following the Nutri-Grain Iron Series Trial held at Tugun on the Gold Coast in December.

The trial saw over 145 athletes battle it out across six races over two days, with the top seven finishers across males and females earning a place in the prestigious series.

The athletes competed across three races and formats - short and sharp (8-10 mins), longer traditional format (12-14 mins) and an M Shape (20-25 mins) with a progressive point score to determine the overall results and qualifiers.

The final day had Pierce compete among 20 males and 20 females across three races for the qualifying positions.

Finn Askew (Surfers Paradise) and Maddie Spencer (Newport) finished top of the male and female qualifiers.

2019/2020 Nutri-Grain Ironman Champion Kendrick Louis (Manly) returns to the series, having missed last season due to injury, while the 2021 Coolangatta Gold Champion Courtney Hancock (Surfers Paradise) secured a place in her 16th series.

TJ Hendy (Surfers Paradise), Ben Carberry (Currumbin) and Wes Gould (Kurrawa ) in the men's field, along with Brielle Cooper (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) and Hannah Sculley (Northcliffe) in the women's, all return from the 2020/21 Series.

Pierce returns after missing last season's qualification event due to illness.

The 2021/22 Series will have four debutants, Maroochydore's Hayden Cotter and Adam Palmer in the men's, and Lily Finite (North Bondi) and Lily O'Sullivan (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) in the women's.

Dual Olympian Aly Bull (Alexandra Headland), New Zealand Ironwoman Oliva Corrin (Northcliffe), four-time New Zealand Ironman Champion Max Beattie (Surfers Paradise) and Gold Coast Ironman Corey Fletcher (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) were awarded wildcard spots following the trial, confirming the field of 20 ironmen and 20 ironwomen for the season.

Round one to three of the series will be held at North Bondi on January 14-16, with rounds four to six held at Kurrawa, Queensland, from February 5-7. All rounds will be broadcast live on the Channel 9 Network from 12pm-2pm (AEDT).

There is a total of $200,000 on offer for athletes, with both men and women offered an equal $100,000 prize money.

In conjunction with the Nutri-Grain IronMan and IronWoman Series, Surf Life Saving Australia will also run the Nutri-Grain Next-Gen Series for males and females aged Under 17 and Under 19 as a curtain-raiser event, as well as the Super Surf Teams League event.