Competing at the Ocean6 Series, Nutri-Grain Ironwoman event, Nicola battled it out with 75 competitors to become one of 20 finalists. The traditional Iron Course consists of three legs of board/swim/ski with run transitions in between each legs.

Nicola finished 6th in her heat and 4th in the repechage heat. This saw her qualify for the final where she finished 15th overall.

Nicola began swim training when she was seven-years-old, then started surf lifesaving at nine and began seriously competing at 12. She said that her training regimen “consists of two to three training sessions a day, six days a week; generally a swim in the mornings followed by a craft and session (board or ski) or running in the afternoon”.

As the youngest qualifying person to compete in the six round series, she defeated older and more experienced Nutri-Grain veterans to secure her place.

“I tried not to put much pressure on myself as no-one really expects the youngest in their field to win. However, my main focus was to gain experience and learn from my mistakes whilst competing, as open races are much different to my age group races,” Nicola said.

Nicola is aiming to achieve further success coming into the new year.

“I hope to qualify for the Ironwoman race at the next round and better my result. I also hope to race well at the Australian Championships [in April] which is the highlight of the Surf Lifesaving calendar.”

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