Young gun in title mix after win

TEEN tyro Brielle Cooper has emerged as a genuine threat for the Nutri-Grain ironwoman series after winning her second consecutive race at North Wollongong to leap to second overall.

The Kurrawa ironwoman did not even qualify for finals day in the opening event of the series at Queenscliff, failing to register a score for the event.

But she has won the two races since, and with competitors able to drop their worst result, sits high in the standings.

It comes as a massive surprise to the sport’s newest star.

“Unbelievable is one way to explain it,” Cooper said after the win yesterday.

“I was confident after last round but I wasn’t confident to go back-to-back.

“I knew it was a big goal which I wasn’t sure I’d be able to reach. I can’t explain how happy I am.”

Cooper won a three-way sprint to the line against Harriet Brown and Currumbin’s Karlee Nurthen to snare the round win.

Brown had led for most of the final race in the eliminator triple sprint format and when she pulled over a wave on the final board leg, it seemed as though she had a career-first race win in the bag.

But after a desperate paddle, Cooper and Nurthen also pulled on to the swell to ensure there would be a sprint finish.

“Being on that last wave with Harriet and Karlee, I thought I could have a crack,” Cooper said.

“I knew I had to get up as soon as I could and chase that line as fast as possible.”

With only the top six from last year’s series automatically qualifying for each round’s 20athlete final day, Cooper has had to win through qualifying just to line up each Sunday.

After her opening round flop at Queenscliff she headed back to the drawing board with her Kurrawa coaches.

“I tried to get all those little things right and it’s paid off,” she said.

“I knew that I’d done the work so as long as I put my race together properly I knew it could happen.”

Lining up against the biggest names in the sport has been daunting but Cooper needs to get used to it.

The end of Round 3 marked the halfway point in the series, as well as a recalibration point at which the six best-ranked athletes not already qualified for finals would earn direct entry in the final three rounds, with Cooper’s name at the top of the list.

“That was the plan coming into this weekend,” she said.

“Obviously coming off last round’s win I knew if I had a good round I’d be able to jump up enough points to be able to miss those Saturday races.”

The 18-year-old is still wideeyed when racing her idols but her success has come as little surprise to those that know her best, including men’s race winner and Kurrawa clubmate Matt Bevilacqua.