Ten minutes of surf sports action that needs to be seen to be believed – a near-flawless race, a capsized ski, and a sprint finish for the ages – was the foundation for a huge upset in the Iron Series finale, with Newport SLSC’s Conner Maggs named the 24/25 champion at North Burleigh beach on Sunday 2 February.
Maggs was consistently there or there abouts across all three weekends of racing, going back almost two months to Wanda in December and then Newcastle as well in the new year, but had yet to podium at the end of any race day and was perhaps at best an outside chance on paper heading into the final.
The revamped Iron Series saw the 24/25 iteration steadily eliminate athletes at every turn, culminating in a final day at the Gold Coast where three iron races – two two-person eliminators and a deciding finale of eight athletes – would crown the newest winner.
As the only NSW male athlete to qualify for the final race of the Series, Maggs shot to the front of the pack to round the first can of the opening swim leg and never looked back – he hit the sand first coming out of the swim and board legs and raced a calm and composed, for the most part, final leg on the ski.
Having established a lead of between 8-10 lengths back to the chasing pack, and catching a runner back to shore, an elated Maggs made his excitement known.
Cue one of the craziest finishes in Iron Series history.
A plunging wave just metres from the beach saw him nosedive and roll the ski where he was stuck underwater trying to release his foot from the strap, for the better part of eight seconds.
With fellow pink rashie qualifier, Joel Piper and former series winner, Matt Bevilacqua making all the ground back up in that time, Maggs escaped the ski just in time for a sprint finish up the beach with Piper hot on his heels and gaining fast.
A dive across the finish wasn’t enough for Piper, as Maggs held on in a remarkable and memorable race.
“I think I claimed it a bit too early,” Maggs said after his victory.
“I mean, I’ve always been a racer that wants to make the racing exciting, and I don’t think I’ve done that on purpose, but my foot got stuck in the end.
“I was just kind of panicking trying to kick [his foot] out. My ski was facing back out to sea, I was facing the shore and my foot was stuck between the foot strap and the pedal.
“I almost had to turn my body 180 degrees before I was able to slide it out. But I just panicked and at that point I was like, ‘I’m gonna come fourth here I’ve stuffed it up’. This is going to be an upset.
“Usually, my ski finish is really good, but I stood up out of the ski and I panicked, and then I couldn’t feel my right foot when I was running up the beach and I just had to give it everything I could. Lucky enough I got the legs to get home.
“I’ve dreamed of something like this since I moved over from South Africa.”
In the women’s racing, Lizzie Welborn, also of Newport, showed no signs of rust in the final stages of her tenth consecutive year in the Series – she finished third on the podium in the last race behind Lucy Derbyshire and Tiarnie Massie.
It was a wonderful finish to a Series where Welborn picked up another big race win in Newcastle and further established herself as a role model and major player in Iron racing.
Monday 3 February 2025