Bonnie Hancock paddled around Australia between her last major race win eight years ago and her return to the podium at the Maroochy Classic on the weekend.
The 35-year-old always considered the ski leg to be her weakness, but the record-breaking 254-day paddle around the circumference of Australia has certainly changed that.
The Bond journalism student crossed the line first in the women’s open ski at the Maroochydore leg of the Shaw and Partners World Ocean Series, marking her first individual race win since leaving the ironwoman circuit.
Experience reading the conditions helped her avoid a foot race against her younger opponents. “It was a great weekend, but the beach was hot, so I was pretty happy when I managed to win my heat and automatically qualify for the final,” Hancock said.
“In the final, a big northeasterly wind came through.
“When I turned the can in second spot, I just went south and made it to the shore about 10m in front of the others.
“I knew I had to hit the beach in front of them to beat them to the finish line in the sprint.”
Success in ski paddling was something that eluded her in the days she was one of the stars of the Ironwoman circuit.
“The ski leg was actually always my weakest leg as an ironwoman,” Hancock said.
“When I retired from ironwoman racing, I set myself a challenge to really work on my ski. I wondered if I could make a ski final; it was something I’d never done while I was competitively racing.
“In my first year of ski paddling, I had more success than I ever did as an ironwoman. That’s when I realised, I was maybe a bit more of a ski paddler than I thought.”
Much of that progression came from almost doubling the number of sessions on the surf ski, as well as guidance from ironman legend and Bond alumnus, Ky Hurst.