On Saturday 22 February, the final showdown of the Ocean 6 series took place at Wanda Beach in Sydney. 

Participating athletes raced for both the Ocean 6 / Round 6 win, vying to secure themselves as the overall 2018/19 Nutri-Grain Ironman Series’ Champions of their respective divisions.

Ali Day, who was appointed a Shaw and Partners Brand Ambassador in November 2018, dominated the final event.  He went from mid-pack in the swim to back in front after rivals ahead of him went off course. Day was in cruise control by the time he completed the ski leg of the race and ran up the sand to claim his second Nutri-Grain Ironman Champion series title.

Day, who had led the ironman series point score since December, finished ahead of Kendrick Louis and Matt Poole third in the overall leader board. The series triumph means Day now concurrently holds the Nutri-Grain, Coolangatta Gold and World titles.

The Ocean 6 series crowned one Shaw and Partners Brand Ambassador, Ali Day, champion while farewelling another.  Shannon Eckstein, who retires from all elite competition at the upcoming Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships, finished fifth.  Eckstein's incredibly stellar career includes over 34 individual race wins in 19 professional Nutri-Grain Ironman Series.

On 22 & 23 March, the Shaw and Partners Shannon Eckstein Ironman Classic will mark his official retirement from the sport.  Competitors are anticipated to come from far and wide to farewell the legend of the sport, and compete for the massive prize pool on offer.

Shaw and Partners is delighted to have partnered with Shannon as the major presenting partner and headline sponsor of the event.