MERCER REVIVAL
SHE sits more than 70 points behind the leader going into the penultimate round of the Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series but Jordan Mercer will take confidence into the Surfers Paradise round after a “phenomenal” performance in Victoria.
Mercer is one of only three women still competing – including series leader and defending champ Harriet Brown and three-time winner Courtney Hancock – to have won a Nutri-Grain crown.
But having missed an entire season due to foot surgery, Mercer headed into the summer underdone and struggled to keep pace.
As teenagers Jemma Smith and Brielle Cooper notched maiden race wins in the opening rounds, Mercer languished.
But she found form on Victoria’s Surf Coast last month, celebrating the new year with a second placing behind Brown at Fairhaven to stand on the podium for the first time in almost two years.
“(The) result has definitely given me a lot of confidence,” Mercer said.
“It’s been quite a tricky season just down to the simple fact that I haven’t been able to do the training that I know has worked for me in the past – just purely trying to take care of my body and the issues after my surgery.
“When I put that magic recipe together and took out the
ironwoman series two seasons ago, (I had worked so hard).
“I know what it takes and I know what I had to do … I’ve had to change so many things to try to keep my training at a level that will allow me to be out here racing against the fittest women in the ocean.”
Her effort at Fairhaven in wild surf was a “breakthrough moment” and Mercer is hoping to replicate it at Surfers on Sunday, and in the final round of the season at Cronulla later this month.
“I kept saying, I really want to jump on the podium,” she said. “This season if I can find myself on the podium, I will have done a pretty phenomenal job just in making this comeback and dealing with the cards I’ve been dealt.”
Mercer moved to third overall after her Fairhaven effort and mathematically remains in the hunt for the title.
Brown has an almost unassailable lead though, especially if she performs well again on Sunday.
With competitors able to drop their worst result in the six-round series, Mercer is out to shed a 14th placing from Coolum in Round 2 to gain ground on Brown.
But after a year in which she suffered a stress fracture in her foot, had surgery and suffered another stress fracture in her arm before losing her uncle – ironman great Dean Mercer – Mercer is glad just to be competing well again.
IF I CAN FIND MYSELF ON THE PODIUM, I WILL HAVE DONE A PRETTY PHENOMENAL JOB JORDAN MERCER