HISTORIC GOLD VICTORIES FOR ECKSTEIN AND HANCOCK
September 25: SURFLIFESAVING stars Caine Eckstein and Courtney Hancock both rewrote the record books with dramatic wins in the 2011 Coolangatta Gold at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast today.
Eckstein, from Kurrawa, raced to his fifth Coolangatta Gold title over 46.65 tough, blustery kilometres, while Northcliffe's Hancock won her first 30.5km women's race in the closest finish in the event's history.
Victory gave Hancock the triple crown of ironwoman racing, adding the Gold to her victories in the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain series and the Australian ironwoman championship earlier this year.
She was driven on throughout today's race by the memory of her grandfather Ron Goodenough, an outstanding surf lifesaver himself, who died in Coffs Harbour 10 days ago.
"I thought of my grandfather the whole way - the whole way - and I think that really helped me. I was just really focused on him," Hancock said.
"Bonnie and I went down for his funeral on Wednesday. We didn't get back until Thursday, so it was really tough. I've been so emotionally drained.
"My grandfather was 90 but he was my best friend in the whole world. He was such an amazing swimmer. He was one of the main reasons I started surfing in the first place.
"He was more than a grandfather to me so it's been really, really hard. I wanted this so much for my family to cheer them up. Everyone has been so sad."
The women's race was incredibly close throughout and Hancock and clubmate Liz Pluimers were shoulder to shoulder in the final stages of the 7.5km soft sand run to the finish.
It was not until the final 50m, run up the sand to the finish, that Hancock was able to break clear of an exhausted Pluimers.
"Oh my god, that chute. You know when the marathon runners are all crawling to the finish. I could have crawled," Hancock said after finishing in three hours 20 minutes and 42 seconds.
"Then I saw the finish tape and I wanted it so much."
Pluimers barely had the energy to cross the line in second place and immediately headed to the first aid tent, while three-time winner Hayley Bateup (Kurrawa) was third.
Not far behind was 17-year-old Danielle Allen (Mooloolaba) in fourth place, signalling herself as a competitor to watch closely
in the future, while Brodie Moir (North Burleigh) placed fifth.
Eckstein's five victories make him clearly the greatest competitor in the history of the Coolangatta Gold. Bateup, Alicia Marriott and Guy Leech, the original winner in 1984, are next best with three wins.
He said his fourth consecutive Coolangatta Gold title, completed in four hours 15 minutes and 26 seconds, was probably his toughest of the lot after being pushed during the early stages by Cronulla's Nathan Smith before setting up a winning break with his renowned running ability.
"It was tough. I didn't expect Nathan to be there in the swim as I'd broken ahead a little in the ski, the 25-year-old said.
"I knew he was such a good swimmer. He popped up behind me which was sort of good because we worked together a little bit. I could get my breath back and work out for the last run-board-run.
"It was really hard with the wind, especially on the board as it was so choppy but I hadn't done one in a northerly before so now I've done one in every type of condition."
After finishing the swim alongside Smith, Eckstein broke away on the 4km run from Bilinga to Currumbin and the king of the Coolangatta Gold wouldn't be challenged again. Smith was eventually second with Alex Tibbits (Mooloolaba) third.
It was an extremely satisfied Eckstein who high-fived the crowd along the finishing chute as he was able to leave behind the doubts that had built up before the race as the result of a disrupted preparation, which included a bout of glandular fever.
"I probably had the worst night of my life last night. I let the nerves get to me a little bit," he said.
"Every year I've done so much training that I've been confident but thinking of the wind I thought it'd be pretty much the whole race by myself so on seven weeks' training I wasn't sure if that was going to be enough.
"I only did seven weeks when usually I do 14 to 16 weeks. Luckily it worked out but I only got about 45 minutes' sleep last night, which was tough."
Eckstein still looks like a man with no intention of letting anyone else enjoy success in the gruelling event.
"It depends how I go in the Kellogg's series," Eckstein said when asked if he'd chasing title number six next year.
"I think that's how I got the glandular fever from doing this and then the Kellogg's series straight after last year, with six races in three months. It was hard but I want to give a shout out to Uncle Mick, my Mum's uncle.
"He helped me with that four weeks I had off. We were doing vitamin C drips four times a week. I travelled up to Labrador four times a week to that. He is a retired doctor so it was awesome he did all that. I couldn't have done it without him. He definitely got me through.''
For 30-year-old Smith, a holiday with his wife and twin baby girls on the Gold Coast at the same time as the Coolangatta Gold proved too great a temptation.
"Our first priority as a family was that we were coming up for a holiday," he said after finishing as a placegetter for the fourth time. He was second to Zane Holmes in 2006 and third behind Eckstein 2008 and 2009.
"Then I rang my sister a week before the entries were due to close. I had a brain explosion, she convinced me to do it and a week late I put my entry in.
"I then convinced my wife because coincidently it was on the same time as our holiday.
"I'm pretty happy. That was far by best result with the amount of training I'd been doing. I wanted to push the pace on the ski to get away from the fast finishers like Mitch Miller and Alex Tibbits so for me the plan worked."
Tibbits, 20, and 18-year-old Miller (North Burleigh) marked themselves as the most likely to challenge for Eckstein's crown as they finished impressively in third and fourth places respectively.
Gold Coast-based South Australian Jake Nicholson proved he is another competitor to watch closely in future by winning the under-19 men's race from Luke Cuff and Sam Bull, while Teisha Jenkins (Mooloolaba) won the under-19 women's from Kate Walker and Brooke Eacott.
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Results
Coolangatta Gold 2011: Gold Coast:
Men:
Open: Caine Eckstein 4:15.26 Nathan Smith 4:22.48 Alex Tibbits 4:24.04 Mitch Miller 4:27.09 Cameron Gordon 4:31.33 Cory Hill 4:36.57 Stuart Snell 4:40.50 Shane Blair 4:41.41 Tom Atkinson 4:42.56 Matt Bevilacqua 4:43.35
Masters 40-49: Shane Whittaker 5:08.52 Scott Sewell 5:25.01 David Whiteside 5:45.04 Russall Cooper 5:51.28 Scott Braby 5:55.22 Roger Souter 5:58.01 Paul Patrick 5:58.33 Jason Foye 5:58.57 Michael Kirkby 6:09.42 Craig McDonald 6:12.29
Masters 30-39: Brent McKinnon 5:05.18 Michael Jennett 5:26.32 Michael Moran 5:27.05 Dave Chidgey 5:28.57 Stuart Hogben 5:31.28 Andrew Michael 5:33.25 Ben Marshall 5:33.50 Paul Buttel 5:38.09 Stuart Colquhoun 5:48.21 Michael Manton 5:56.30
U/19: Jake Nicholson 3:16.04 Luke Cuff 3:24.05 Samuel Bull 3:24.14 Cory Taylor 3:26.52 Billy Bain 3:27.29 Isak Costello 3:32.32 Joel Bevilacqua 3:32.42 Max Brooks 3:32.49 Tyler Maxwell 3:33.42 Jaega Desainis 3:39.35
Open Teams: Left Overs 4:20.48 Surfers Old/New Boys 4:27.46 Collaroy 4:29.28 BBC Digital 4:39.20 Jan Juc Tap Donk 4:39.38 Queensie Bullets 4:41.32 Cairncross & Associates 4:45.10 The Wedges 4:48.58 Ramsey Street 4:49.37 Team Leo 4:56.15
U19 Teams: Maroochydore Try Hards 4:39.56 Team South 4:44.50 Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men 4:59.10 Queensie Wave Riders 5:00.23 M&Ms 5:04.41 Queensie Saints 5:47.36 Team Juc 6:21.26
Women:
Open: Courtney Hancock 3:20.42 Elizabeth Pluimers 3:21.32 Hayley Bateup 3:23.06 Danielle Allen 3:26.22 Brodie Moir 3:28.26 Kelly-Ann Perkins 3:31.04 Tenille Devine 3:31.28 Harriet Brown 3:32.00 Tara Coleman 3:32.22 Kristyl Smith 3:32.33
Masters: 40-49: Tracey Ann Apthorpe 4:52.23 Kimberley Fleming 4:55.37 Julie Cummings 5:15.24
Masters: 30-39: Tiarne Smith 3:34.11 Michelle Kent 3:37.10 Paula Stone 3:56.11 Melinda Cockshutt 4:23.36 Melinda Pelly 4:37.22 Lisa Brew 4:54.27
U19: Teisha Jenkins 3:42.57 Kate Walker 3:58.24 Brooke Eacott 4:02.59 Briella Brown 4:24.36 Kate Curtis 4:48.16 Jessica Silvester 5:06.17
Open Teams: Manly A 3:26.48 Lanky Funks and the Bean Pole 3:31.28 Maroochydore Swans 3:34.28 Warilla 3:35.42 Manly B 3:35.55 Kozii 3:38.12 Freshie 3:38.39 Pocket Rockets 3:40.10 Noosa Enduros 4:05.56 Team Cronulla 4:07.51
U19 Teams: Maroochydore Cygnets 3:39.23 Team Sharkbait 3:44.51 Ripper of a North Burleigh Nipper 3:48.31 Mbar 3:49.33 The Fattys 4:03.29 Freshie Girls 4:05.01 Queensie Chicks 4:14.53 RAH 4:15.27
Mixed: Manly Ripped and Immature 4:50.55 Three and a Half Men 5:03.44 Peterson Proteges 5:17.14 Team OB 5:32.27 Mona Vale Black 5:39.39 Coolie Beavis 5:49.25 Dew Beaters 5:59.13 Benchwarmers 6:01.45 Manly Masters Two 6:03.21 M&M Hall 6:05.15
The Coolangatta Gold is proudly supported by Events Queensland