Paris Golden Girl Lani Pallister Claims Record-Equaling Sixth Lorne Pier To Pub; Nic Sloman Wins Men’s Thriller
Queensland’s Olympic and world champion Lani Pallister just keeps on keeping on after adding her record equaling sixth Powercor Pier To Pub classic at Lorne on Victoria’s surf coast yesterday.
The iconic 1.2km open water swim attracts 6000 swimmers of all ages from Olympians like Pallister and first-time men’s Superfish category winner fellow Paris Olympian Nic Sloman to the weekend warriors, lifesavers and families.
Pallister equaled Ironwoman Harriet Brown’s Female Superfish record of six wins, leading from start to finish in a time of 11 minutes 25 seconds, from Geelong’s eighth seed Madison Cooper, with MLC Aquatic’s emerging open water and surf star Mackie Hunter third.
In Paris, Pallister experienced the highs and lows – winning gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay and the lows of missing the 1500m freestyle with COVID – a bitter pill to swallow for Pallister – who has a celebrated list of achievements including five World Short Course Championships and World and Australian Surf Life Saving crowns.
Pallister emerging victorious in Lorne despite a three-week European holiday following her World Short Course triumphs in Budapest.
“Adding a sixth (Pier to Pub) is really exciting, it’s nice to come and race early in the season,” Pallister told the Geelong Advertiser after the race.
“I had three weeks off in Europe before coming to do this so I definitely knew it wasn’t going to be as easy. I think it’s a good reality check that I need to go back to some hard work.”
Pallister’s sixth impressive victory coincides with the announcement that her Olympian mother, Janelle Pallister, an Australian National Team swim coach, had been appointed as the Associate Head Coach alongside newly appointed Head Coach, former British Olympic coach, Mel Marshall at the Swimming Australia Gold Coast High Performance HUB.
While first time winner Sloman, 11th in the 10km open water marathon in Paris, staged a neck-and-neck battle with Olympic teammate and former world champion Sam Short in a classic Lorne shoot out with local rising star Harry Hay landing his first podium in front of a home crowd.
Sloman joining fellow Olympians John Fox (1983, 1984,1985,1987), Rob Woodhouse (1986, 1989), Kieren Perkins (1992), Patrick Murphy (2004) and Daniel Kowalski (2007) on a who’s who of former men’s winners since the first Pier to Pub in 1981.
While Atlanta Olympian and former Australian surf race champion Stacey Gartrell is a former four-time Female Superfish winner in 1995, 1996,1997, 1999 with British Olympian Ellen Gandy taking the title in 2012.
Sloman celebrating his move from Noosa in Queensland to his new home at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre HP Hub under Olympic gold medal coach Craig Jackson – after forging his career and a long-standing partnership with master coach John Rodgers.
Sloman fell 11 seconds short of the course record set by seven-time winner Sam Sheppard in 2016.
“I know there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders to get the win today … it’s an incredible achievement for myself,” Sloman told Geelong Advertiser.
“Obviously I would have liked to race Hayden Cotter down here, but you can’t fight illness … maybe next year.
“After competing at the Olympic Games and not getting the result I wanted, I still feel like I have unfinished business in the sport, so I’ll just keep taking one year at a time and achieve the goals I haven’t been able to achieve, like some individual glory.”