SMASHING SUCCESS FOR ALYCE AND SHANNON AT WILD COOLUM
Coolum, February 7: Alyce Bennett and Shannon Eckstein emerged from a day of wild surf, broken craft and injuries as the winners in round three of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series at Coolum Beach today.
Competitors had their bravery and skill tested as never before in pounding two metre surf that turned the water into a washing machine and left the best surf lifesavers in the country waterlogged and washed out. David Moase Reports...
While Eckstein (Telstra Southern Qld Sunfish) showed freakish surfing skills to recover from problems in the ski and board legs, the crashing waves were particularly tough on the female competitors whose scheduled 25-minute race took twice that long to complete.
In a true test of survival, Bennett, competing for the Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins, proved herself the fittest, winning by a massive six minutes from current Australian Ironwoman champion Alicia Marriott (Jeep Western Waves) and Allira Richardson (Citizen North Qld Lightning).
Bennett said the conditions were the toughest she had ever encountered.
Her closest rival for much of the race, Hayley Bateup (DHL Southern Ice), was forced out when her board was snapped clean in half by a pounding wave during the final leg and came crashing down on the back of her neck, leaving her dazed.
"Coolum always puts on a good wave so it's a great spot to have it, good for racing," Bennett said.
"What happened to Hayley shows the power that the waves had and it was a matter of who was in the best position getting the breaks.
"I was side by side with Hayley and while she rolled under the wave I waited a bit and the wave snapped her board clean in half."
For Bennett, who hails from Yamba on the NSW North Coast, today's victory was the biggest of her career.
"This is my first win in the Kellogg's series," she said.
"I also had a win last weekend when I started racing with a new board that is the first one I've had away from the colour scheme that I've used for the past seven years and it must be my lucky board."
Bennett paid tribute to the advice her coach, Wes Berg, passed on just before the start of the race.
"He had been watching the surf all morning and he told me there were two rips running, one in the north and one in the south, but that the southern one was much more consistent," she said.
"He said go to the south every time and it worked."
The consensus among the female competitors was that the race was one of the two or three toughest they had ever contested.
Runner-up Marriott, who edged out Richardson in a sprint finish and is starting return to the form that saw he win last year's 
national Ironwoman crown, said the conditions made it impossible to know where you were in the race.
"I was quite nervous going into the race because back home (in Perth) the conditions have been dead flat," she said.
"At Kurrawa in rounds one and two my surf skills were a bit off and I didn't know how I was going to go here but I pulled out a big race.
Richardson said that despite the physical toll taken in the tough conditions, the mental battle was just as hard.
"I was out there on the ski thinking ‘why am I doing this to myself' but you've just got to keep at it and hope a break will come and power on through when you get that break," she said.
"It was definitely one of the toughest races we have done, last year at Kurrawa was similar conditions, it's a washing machine out there."
Another to fare well in the testing surf was Courtney Hancock (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) who finished fourth ahead of brave efforts by Chloe Jones (Lightning) in fifth, Kirsten Ulmer (Ice) sixth, Gemma Newbiggin (Lightning) seventh and Chelsea Mackenzie eighth.
The day was particularly difficult for the series leaders going into round three, Kristyl Smith (Blue Fins), Naomi Flood (Hammers) and Terri Sullivan (Sunfish).
Smith was shown no mercy by the surfing gods after leading through the first half of the opening swim leg.
She was smashed by wave after wave on the ski and was still trying to complete the course more than 90 minutes after the start.
Flood fared little better and finished in 13th place, while Sullivan was stung by a bluebottle before the race and again in the swim and was forced to retire.
Despite her difficulties, Smith still leads the Ironwoman series on 40 points ahead of Flood on 39 while Bennett's win elevated her to third place on 36 points.
RESULTS:
2009 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series: Coolum Beach: Round 3: Endurance Course: Men: Shannon Eckstein (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 18 Zane Holmes (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 17 Nathan Smith (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 16 Luke Nisbet (Jeep Western Waves) 15 Hugh Dougherty (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 14 Matt Poole (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 13 Corey Jones (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) 12 Wes Berg (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 11 Hayden Allum (Southern DHL Ice) 10 Dean Mercer (Northern QLD Citizen Lightning) 9 Pierce Leonard (DHL Southern Ice) 8Jack Hansen (DHL Southern Ice) 7 Chris Allum (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 6 Andrew Mosel (Western Jeep Waves) 5 Dylan Newbiggin (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) 4 James Stewart (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 3 Kendrick Louis (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 2 Brendon Sarson (Jeep Western Waves) 1
Women: Alyce Bennett (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 18 Alicia Marriott (Jeep Western Waves) 17 Allira Richardson (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) 16 Courtney Hancock (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 15 Chloe Jones (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) 14 Kirsten Ulmer (DHL Southern Ice) 13 Gemma Newbiggin (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) 12 Chelsea Mackenzie (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 11 Bonnie Hancock (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 10 Bianca Lee (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 9 Brodie Moir (Jeep Western Waves) 8 Rebecca Creedy (Jeep Western Waves) 7 Naomi Flood (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 6 Elizabeth Pluimers (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 5 Kristyl Smith 4 (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) Terri Sullivan (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) DNF Hayley Bateup (DHL Southern Ice) DNF Flora Manciet (DHL Southern Ice) DNF
Team: Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins (6), Northern QLD Citizen Lightning (5), Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish (4), Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers (3), Western Jeep Waves (2), Southern DHL Ice (1)
Progressive Pointscore: Men: Shannon Eckstein (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 53 Zane Holmes 51 (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) Matt Poole 41 (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) Pierce Leonard 40 (DHL Southern Ice) Nathan Smith 39 (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) Hugh Dougherty 38 (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) Corey Jones 34 (Northern QLD Citizen Lightning) Dean Mercer 33 (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) Chris Allum 30 (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) Luke Nisbet 29 (Jeep Western Waves) Wes Berg 27 (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) James Stewart 21 (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) Hayden Allum 19 (DHL Southern Ice) Dylan Newbiggin 16 (Citizen Northern QLD Lightning) Jack Hansen 13 (DHL Southern Ice) Kendrick Louis 12 (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) AndrewMosel 9 (Jeep Western Waves) Brendon Sarson 8 (Jeep Western Waves)
Women: Kristyl Smith (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 40 Naomi Flood (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 39 Alyce Bennett (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 36 Courtney Hancock (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 34 Terri Sullivan (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 33 Elizabeth Pluimers (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 33 Chloe Jones (Northern QLD Citizen Lightning) 33 Allira Richardson (Northern QLD Citizen Lightning) 30 Chelsea Mackenzie (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) 29 Gemma Newbiggin (Northern QLD Citizen Lightning) 29 Hayley Bateup (DHL Southern Ice) 28 Alicia Marriott (Jeep Western Waves) 28 Brodie Moir (Jeep Western Waves) 24 Bonnie Hancock (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers) 24 Flora Manciet (DHL Southern Ice) 21 Kirsten Ulmer (DHL Southern Ice) 20 Bianca Lee (Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish) 15 Rebecca Creedy (Jeep Western Waves) 10
Team: Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins (15), Telstra Southern QLD Sunfish (14), Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers (13), Northern QLD Citizen Lightning (10), DHL Southern Ice (7), Western Jeep Waves (4)