Surfing
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What can Tahitians teach a Surf Ironman about motivation?
For Australian Surf Ironman Matt Poole, the biggest win of his career kicked up more questions than answers, so he went to Tahiti and sought guidance from the original watermen.
Some kids grow up wanting to be doctors or police officers. Others spend their days dreaming about becoming pro basketball, hockey or football players. It’s a little rarer, though, to find that kid who wants to be a Surf Ironman. Discover the story of one who did in Matt Poole's episode of Dedicate, below:
17 min
The waterman: Matt Poole
It's not just about winning titles for Australian surfer Matt Poole – it's about learning how to be the best.
“Look, it was either a pro surfer or a Surf Ironman,” says Poole over the phone as he walks in his front door on Australia’s Gold Coast. “They’re the sports I grew up idolising and watching on TV, so it was a flip of the coin.”
The coin landed heads up: Surf Ironman. Growing up in the beachside Sydney suburb of Queenscliff, Matt didn’t have to venture very far to get his fix. Australia has a strong Surf Lifesaving culture and the pathways for kids to get involved begin at the age of just five.
Heading into the surf
© Brett Hemmings/Red Bull Content Pool
They begin by learning the nuts and bolts. You know; surf awareness, swimming, surf safety and the like. Basic beach-safety skills. As the kids get older, there are all sorts of swimming, running and surf competitions to enter. It’s a way for the clubs to help create strong, resilient and capable surf lifesaving volunteers and safer beachside communities in Australia in general. Lifeguard training by way of competition – and it works.
Poole loves being on the beach
© Trent Mitchell/Red Bull Content Pool
Matt first began competing in the under-11s categories and made the representative state team for New South Wales in the under-13s – the youngest possible age. “I was always good on the board,” he says. “But I had a lot of natural talent. I was by no means the kid who used to win all the time, I just loved being down the beach and I was super driven.”
Fast-forward 18 years and that drive has helped Matt turn those Surf Ironman dreams of his into a legitimate career, during which he’s dominated endurance paddle and Surf Ironman competitions around the world.
His biggest victory came in 2017 when, after years of injuries, setbacks and second or third places, he finally won the Professional Ironman Series title in spite of fierce competition from the ever-dominant Shannon Eckstein, who was chasing his 10th title while Matt was chasing his first.
Matt had his biggest victory in 2017
© Andy Green/Red Bull Content Pool
Despite this enormous achievement, Matt’s consistency for the following two years was all over the place. His motivation and dedication to winning were waning. “I had to try and find a way to get that hunger back,” says Matt. “I’d lost that will to win, to push myself, to be uncomfortable, and to hurt.”
How Matt Poole found his Surf Ironman mojo in Tahiti
So he went to Tahiti.
Matt’s goal in Tahiti wasn’t to win any titles or dominate the competition – it was to learn. And he did that by entering into a local Tahitian waterman event. “Tahitians were the original watermen,” he explains. “They invented the surf craft and their appreciation or respect for the ocean is just incredible. It's like nothing I've ever seen before.”
For Matt, the project was about getting himself out of his comfort zone, and experiencing a new way of being in, relating to and experiencing the ocean. “It’s about going from the top of my sport right now to the bottom of theirs and seeing how I can adapt, how I can push myself and how I can overcome any setbacks.”
Matt Poole sees Tahiti from a new perspective
© Donald Miralle/Red Bull Content Pool
As Matt will readily admit, the Tahitians don’t look at the ocean as a place to compete, race, or win medals, like he does. They look at it as a source of life and sustenance for their families and a space in which they can continually improve their mental and physical wellbeing. These watermen aren’t out there trying to conquer the ocean – they’re trying to work with it. Learn from it. “They taught me to not just look at the ocean as my office, or my training ground,” explains Matt. “It’s so full of energy and life. They gave me a completely newfound appreciation for everything I do.”
Poole grew up idolising surfers
© Trent Mitchell/Red Bull Content Pool
Something in Tahiti must’ve struck a chord. At time of writing, November 2019, Matt is at the top of the table in the 2019/20 Nutri-Grain Ironman Series, having placed second in the first round and first in the second round of the competition, with three more rounds to go (two in December 2019, one in January 2020).
He might be sitting pretty right now but as his brief and educational time in Tahiti taught him, there’s no time for complacency in the turbulent world of the competitive Surf Ironman. “I went out to Tahiti, and the ocean snapped my board clean in half,” he says. “That put the fear of god in me. It doesn’t matter how good you are. It doesn’t matter who you are. The ocean is neutral, and she plays no favours for anyone.”
Watch more from the Dedicate series below:
