Poole in race to be fit for Aussies ironman tilt

 Surf Life Saving Australia, April 17, 2015: Mooloolaba's Matt Poole is in a race fit to be fit for Sunday's ironman semi-finals after aggravating an ongoing back injury at the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships at North Kirra.

Poole said the continuous wading over the shallow bank caused his back to tighten and spasm and will consider pulling out of all other events in order to prevent further injury.

‘It’s not feeling great at the moment, I’ll head to the physio and get a massage and hopefully I’ll be right by Sunday,” Poole said after today’s quarter-final.

Poole finished fifth in the first quarter-final won by club mate Luke Cuff ahead of Newport's Jonah Beard, Northcliffe's 2014 Australian ironman silver medallist and Coolangatta Gold king Caine Eckstein and 2014 bronze medallist Dane Farrell from Elouera.

Meanwhile, Newport’s Kendrick Louis showed why he is one of the men to beat for this year’s Open Ironman title with an impressive quarter-final win.

Louis cleared out on his rivals to ensure victory by a comfortable margin and gain a place in Sunday morning’s semi-finals. The final will be raced on Sunday afternoon.

He moved quickly to the front in the opening board leg and stayed there in the swim and ski sections of the event.

“It was good I had a ski race prior to that. I like to get a race in prior to the Ironman to get the heart rate up, hit the gun and get those anxious nerves out,” the 24-year-old said.

“As soon as you make the quarter-finals they’re cut-throat. I just wanted to set myself up and not leave anything to chance.

“I’m through to the semi-final on Sunday morning and they’re always going to be a killer. I thought I’d get one hard Ironman out, have two days’ rest then get back into it.”

Along with Louis, the favoured competitors for Sunday’s final all safely progressed to the semi-finals.

The biggest casualty was Nutri-Grain series competitor Jack Moyes from Terrigal, who placed ninth in the opening quarter-final won by Luke Cuff (Mooloolaba).

 

Six-time national Ironman champion Shannon Eckstein was a smooth as ever in winning his quarter-final, while four-time winner Ky Hurst also looked in good condition as he led the field home in another of the races.

Nutri-Grain Series winner Ali Day flirted with elimination early in the quarter-final won by Eckstein but eventually qualified in sixth place, just behind his clubmate and 2013 Australian Ironman champion Cam Cole.

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