HOW do you top perfection?
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The easy answer is it can't be done, but people said the same about what Kiama's Ali Day achieved last season in claiming all six rounds of the Nutri-Grain Ironman series.
It was the first - and quite possibly the last - time the feat has been achieved, but even that doesn't tell the full story. Throw in the previous two years he'd spent out of the sport after breaking both wrists at a promotional shoot, and it's also a story we'll probably never see the like of again.
With this year's series set to begin at North Bondi Beach on Friday, it's a tough act to follow.
"It was obviously never a goal of mine last year to go six from six," Day said.
"It was more of an emotional period of time around getting my foot back on the start-line and racing again. I was just hoping to be at the pointy end and get close to winning a couple of races.
"The way it turned out, each race came along and I'd win, and win, and win. The last race came and I thought 'gee, I'm on the cusp of history here, imagine if it happened' and then it did.
"It would be so hard for me to replicate what happened last year because of all the changes this year. There's different formats, there's better athletes and I think there's a bigger target on my back."
That latter fact is the biggest change 12 months on, with his return to the line this weekend accompanied by a weight of expectation his return campaign didn't carry.
"There was emotion there, but really no pressure," Day said.
"I'd come through the [qualifying] trials to get my spot back and I'd had 18 months off. I know it sounds really boring and cliched but, but it's really just about consistency again.
"Obviously the most consistent from round one is the guy that wins the series. I've been thereabouts 12 or 13 years in the series, and I've won three, but I've got four or five runner-ups.
"It took me so long to win a race and it took me a fair while to win a series. That's what everyone's trying to do and that's what I want to do. If that means winning six races great, but if it means three or four fifths, a second and a third, then that's what it looks like."
It's heavy, but that target is also a badge of honour in a sport that's seen such a pronounced passing of the torch through its history, from the likes of Grant Kenny, to Trevor Hendy, to Ky Hurst, Shannon Eckstein and now Day.
The current king may well be the best of the lot. Famously humble, 30-year-old Day would never make that claim, but he's also not quite ready to let go of the torch
"You definitely have moments on the line where you pinch yourself and go 'how good is it to [still] be here?'," Day said.
"You also think 'wow where did 12 years ago?' I remember being the youngest on the line and I had Shannon in front of me. I was never going to beat him [then] but he was the guy I wanted to model my racing on.
"It sounds crazy, but it was almost easier when he was there because the pressure was off. It was his job to win the races, speak to the media and stuff like that.
"Hopefully I can keep doing it a little bit longer and inspire these kids to take it somewhere else."
The first three rounds of the series will take place over three days from Friday, the first beginning right in the seven-time Coolangatta Gold winner's wheelhouse with an Enduro format.
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