A bumper summer, including a maiden birth in the premier Iron Series in the country, has Noah Steiner of Wanda surf club primed for big things as one of the biggest months of surf sports action begins in Lake Macquarie.
Australian medals are on the horizon but first, all roads lead to Blacksmiths for the 2026 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships – the biggest festival of surf sports in the state – and Steiner will be hoping to build on the foundations he’s worked so hard to establish in the past few months.
There’s as much to love about the man behind the performances as well – an endearing personality fortified by a strong will and ethos, which has helped him to deliver a season with some of the best results in his career.
“It’s been a really big year of growth for me,” he agreed.
“The biggest highlight was definitely qualifying for my first Iron Series. That’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time, so to finally break through was pretty special.
“I was fortunate enough to put together a pretty consistent series with a number of top 10 finishes – which gave me a lot of confidence that I can compete at that level.
“The goal now would be to keep building on that experience — qualify again, become more competitive in the Series, and over time push towards bigger goals like contending for an Australian Ironman title.”
The next step in that journey begins at Swansea Belmont – a location many are familiar with and have been shaped by. The club last hosted the State Championships in the early 2020s.
It was the site of Steiner’s first ever State gold medal, a result he remembers fondly, and he’s excited to challenge himself once again at a beach that rewards what he describes as ‘versatile athletes’.
And Wanda has many of those. Thanks to the training regime of former World, Australian and NSW Ironman Champion, Nathan Smith, the club, like Steiner, gets better and better as the years go by.
“The squad at Wanda has seen such massive growth in the past three years,” Steiner said.
“We’re a young, hungry training group and really feed off each other, which has fostered our growing success both individually and as a team.
“The culture and mateship help our squad continue to grow, and with it, our collective ambition and success.”
They’re certainly a squad to watch, having finished second on the Overall Point Score last year.
Buoyed by Steiner, on a mantra of ‘racing hard, executing well, and ironing out weaknesses’ as he hopes to turn a bevy of State Champs podium medals in 2025 into gold in 2026, there is plenty of exciting things on the horizon for athlete and club.
Tuesday 24 February 2026