Welborn’s plan pays off
YOUNG gun Lizzie Welborn has snared her first NutriGrain victory but has a quartet of Gold Coasters hot on her tail in a race for the ironwoman series title.
Welborn heads into today’s accumulator round – races in the individual swim, board and ski events as well as a full ironwoman – on top of the points table after using her knowledge of the North Cronulla break to perfection.
The North Bondi competitor revealed she and coach Scott Thomson headed into yesterday’s endurance event with a specific plan to tackle the dumping low tide break and it paid dividends as she charged on to a wave in the final board leg to take the win.
“Reading the surf is a really critical part in this race. Me and my coach Scotty Thompson did a lot of pre-race look- ing at the surf and knowing exactly where I was going to go on each leg,’’ she said.
“So he really helped me with that win, I definitely couldn’t have done it without him.
“It means the world to me, it’s what I’ve been training for all year, just thinking about holding that black banner above my head and to finally get it, it hasn’t hit me yet for sure.
“I can’t get too far ahead of myself because there’s still two races to go and the series is not nearly over but it’s just exciting to know that I’m up there and in with a chance.’’
Maddy Dunn led a trio of Northcliffe competitors home, finishing ahead of Harriet Brown and Courtney Hancock, who had done most of the work early, while Burleigh’s comeback queen Emma Dick was fifth. While Umina’s rising star Jemma Smith was sixth, Gold Coasters filled the next four places in the top 10.
Dunn, who headed into last year’s final round at North Cronulla with a chance of wrapping up a maiden se- ries before losing her board in the surf, said she had learnt plenty over the past year and headed into this year’s series a better athlete.
“Going into that last board leg last year I almost could have taken out the series but … I learnt a lot and I learnt a lot about (this) beach and how it breaks, so it’s good,’’ she said.
Repeating her effort would be vital if she was to be a force in the overall standings but Dunn knew it would be difficult with the entire series coming down to just three days of racing on successive days in Sydney.
“Two rounds was enough for one weekend but three is a different story,’’ she said.
“We’re going to have to think about it more, warm down properly and warm up properly.
“But it’s going to be tough and when we get to Sunday it’s going to be really tough.’’