A new season and a new dawn arrive for Australian surf lifesaving with the opening round of the Iron Series beginning with the famous Coolangatta Gold.
The great race on the Gold Coast is part of the Iron Series for the first time, meaning the 28 best men and women will be lining up to tackle the gruelling event.
Despite the blue-ribbon event being drastically trimmed down, going from 41.8 kilometres in 2024 to a 25.6km ski, swim, board and run this year, the competition has never been stronger.
Lucy Derbyshire is the defending Iron Series champion, claiming her maiden crown last summer.
Lucy Derbyshire has finished second and third in the previous two Coolangatta Golds. (ABC Sport: Michael Doyle)
Originally from Glenelg in South Australia, but now racing for Surfers Paradise SLSC on the Gold Coast, Derbyshire has been a regular competitor in the Coolangatta Gold in recent years, despite the race not being part of the Iron Series.
Derbyshire has finished on the podium in each of the last two Golds and enters this year’s event with the confidence of a champion.
“I’m super excited that the Coolangatta Gold is part of the Iron Series. I do the Gold every year, and I feel like that’s a real strength of mine,” she told ABC Sport in the lead-up to the race.
“I’m feeling very fit and feeling really positive. I’m healthy, and that’s all I need to be at the moment.”
Lucy Derbyshire is originally from South Australia, but now competes for Surfers Paradise SLSC. (ABC Sport: Michael Doyle)
The Coolangatta Gold has not always drawn Iron Series competitors in recent years.
What was a gruelling 40km-plus race over sand and water was a tough commitment for any top athlete to do, on top of the Iron Series.
But now being integrated into the series, the level of competition in both the men’s and women’s events is as strong as ever.
For Derbyshire, being the defending series champion brings confidence and expectation.
“I come in with heaps of confidence, but I also want to come into the season with no pressure on myself,” the 22-year-old said.
“Twenty-eight elite women will come and put their foot on the line, ready to race, and it’s going to be exciting.”
Conner Maggs enters as Iron Series champion
With a new home, a new trainer and a new season ahead of him, Conner Maggs has set his sights on staying atop the Ironman mountain.
Conner Maggs enters the new Iron Series as defending champion. (ABC Sport: Michael Doyle)
Maggs, 19, comes into the new Iron Series season as the defending champion after claiming his maiden title last summer.
Born in South Africa before migrating to Sydney when he was a child, Maggs has chosen not to rest on his laurels after this title win.
Instead, he relocated to the Gold Coast and joined the team at Mermaid Beach to be coached by Ironman great Ky Hurst.
The move is one Maggs believes will pay dividends as the new season begins with the Coolangatta Gold.
“Ky has not made the training easy,” Maggs told ABC Sport ahead of the Coolangatta Gold.
“He is one of the best ever in the sport, and a two-time Olympian, so to have someone like him by my side, as well as Mermaid Beach Surf Club supporting me through training all the way to media, makes me proud to represent that club.”
Conner Maggs has relocated to the Gold Coast, from Sydney, as he prepares to defend his Iron Series title. (Getty Images: Matt Roberts)
Another of the greats who will line up in the men’s race is Ali Day, a multiple-time Iron Series champion.
Since 2012, Day has competed in 10 of the 12 Coolangatta Golds and won all 10.
Day has been the benchmark for over a decade, but Maggs said he was excited about taking the challenge to one of the sport’s true greats.
Along with relocating to Queensland and joining Hurst’s tutelage, Maggs said he had also been working away from the beach to become the best athlete he could be.
“I did the long course for the first time last year, and I did a lot of training, and I got a mental sports psychologist,” Maggs said.
“We worked really hard on trying to grow as an athlete and a person.
“The physical training is really difficult, but mentally, if you’re not switched on and right there in that moment, it can really throw you out of touch within that race.”
Maggs comes into the new season with the knowledge that he is a champion racer.
He said round one at Coolangatta was going to be a challenge, but believed his training and preparation gave him the best chance to succeed.
“For someone like me at 19 years old, it’s a big challenge for me to come in and try and win, or be competitive at that,” he said.
“But I have the utmost belief that if I put in the hard work, both physically and mentally, that I can be up there in the top five and challenging for a race win.
“I’m respectful of what he has done 10 times in this Coolangatta Gold, but I want to beat him, so that is the goal.”
The 2025 Coolangatta Gold weekend will be held on October 18-19 at Coolangatta Beach.
It is the first of five weekends in this summer’s Iron Series, culminating with the finale at Miami Beach, Gold Coast, on Sunday, February 1.