Uncle Toby's Super Series

The Uncle Toby's Super Series was a professional Australian Iron Man circuit that ran from 1989 to 2001. It was considered by many to be the pinnacle of Surf Lifesaving and inspired many young kids to become involved in the sport. It also made the sport professional and gave the opportunity for contracted competitors to make a full-time living from the sport.

Televised on Network 10, The Uncle Toby's Super Series became a major event on the Australian Sporting Calendar each summer.

In 1984 The Coolangatta Gold became the first ever professional Iron Man race with $20,000 prize money. Guy Leech won the race in its inaugural year and also the following year before The SLSA decided to discontinue the event.

From 1986 the SLSA created a semi-professional Iron Man circuit which was called the Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Iron Man Grand Prix. Although this series did give competitors a chance to win some prizemoney, it meant that the average competitor would struggle to make a living from the sport. Several competitors had ideas for a full professional sport and expressed their ideas to the SLSA however the SLSA were not interested and the tension began to rise eventually leading to 12 competitors forming a breakaway series with rival breakfast cereal Uncle Tobys as main sponsor. The series was designed to attract more public interest and higher television ratings for what was a relatively new sport at the time.

The SLSA were totally against the Uncle Toby's Super Series and threatened the competitors with life bans. There was great tension between SLSA and the organisers especially considering that the biggest names in the series were also the biggest names in Surf Life Saving. In many ways it was similar to the World Series Cricket situation that Australia faced in the late 1970s. Both sports were facing a breakaway series which was designed for television and to attract advertising while the formal competition was to continue despite losing its main drawcards.

The first race was held in October 1989 which was to be a new version of The Coolangatta Gold which was now renamed The Gold Coast Gold. Guy Leech comfortably won the race making him undefeated over the race from 3 attempts. The entire race was televised live and finished at sunset. Interest in the series was developing rapidly and television ratings were at an acceptable level.

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