SURF LIFESAVING
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Hannah Minogue may be out of sight and out of mind, but she is determined to make an impression in the final round of the national ironwoman series at Coolum tomorrow.
Minogue is the only woman in the series who lives and trains south of the border but she says the isolation serves her well.
"I've got the whole state behind me supporting me and even though I'm down here by myself I feel like I've got lots of support," she said.
"It lets me focus on myself and not worry too much about what they're doing [in Queensland]. I only see them when I race, not when I train, so I don't have to worry during the week.
"I can just do what I do and then when I go up there I'm always excited to race the girls and give it a good shot for NSW."
Consistency across the previous four rounds has left the 23-year-old in the middle of the points table in eighth place, just 13 points adrift of sixth place and automatic requalification for next year's series.
"I've learned that consistency is the key in racing," she said. "I've been a bit up and down but if you can put five or six good races together you're going to be up there in the points.
"I'm sitting in eighth so I'm just a little out of it [requalification] but I want to give it a good shot, race well and hopefully move up a spot or two.
"Anything can happen so as long as I go in there with the attitude of trying to race my best I'll just see what the other girls do and we'll look at the points when we're done."
Tomorrow's racing will be the sixth and final round in a bizarre series schedule that saw the first five rounds held over two weekends in December.
Minogue said staying busy in the 2½ -month wait for the final has ensured she's ready for the series-deciding round.
"I've been racing all over the place in between, but it's a bit weird to be getting ready to race in the series again.
"It's a bit different but I'm excited."
"Everyone's started to get ready to race at state [titles] and Aussies [Australian titles] and this round has fallen pretty well, just a couple of weeks before that, so everyone will be firing and ready to race."