Ironman (surf lifesaving)

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The sport of Ironman was developed in 1964 in Australia to combine the four main disciplines of surflifesaving into a single race; swimming, board paddling, ski paddling and running. The sport should not be confused with Ironman triathlon.

Perhaps the most famous ironman was Grant Kenny, who in 1980 at the age of 16 made the event famous by winning the Australian Junior and Australian Open Ironman championships within the space of half an hour. Grant became a national hero, appearing on cereal boxes and television advertisements, and was seen as the pinnacle of Aussie sportsmen. The short Ironman event became famous and the centre of attention at all surf carnivals.

In the early 1980s a movie was made called "The Coolangatta Gold", about an ironman event that required competitors to complete a 42km course along Queensland's Gold Coast. A circuit was then developed that mixed 10-minute Ironman races with the Coolangatta Gold, and a range of other professional Ironman events around Australia. The Coolangatta Gold was resurrected in 2005. The format of the 2006 race was as follows:

Leg	Discipline	Route	Distance
1	Ski	Surfers Paradise to Greenmount SLSC	23.km
2	Run	Greenmount SLSC to Coolangatta SLSC	0.65km
3	Swim	Coolangatta SLSC to Bilinga SLSC	3.50km
4	Run	Bilinga SLSC to Currumbin SLSC	4.00km
5	Board	Currumbin SLSC to Burleigh Heads SLSC	5.50km
6	Run	Burleigh Heads SLSC to Surfers Paradise	10.00km
			Total 46.65km

In 1989 an elite group of Ironmen took the sport one step further and created the event for TV. The event was named the Uncle Toby's Super Series and became one of the highlights of the Australian summer sports calendar.

• History of Surf Lifesaving from SLSA website