Bonnie Hancock

Uh, they're not easy to maneuver in and out of the surf.

You are running on soft sand, which is one of, I think the hardest surface to run on.

you're not just swimming like in a pool, but you're going under waves that can be eight foot sometimes.

And the board is similar to a paddling position, like on a surfboard, but you also can paddle it on your knees.

So it's a mix of everything.

We were training three times a day to make sure we were physically conditioned to race in these events.

Yes and no, I think.

I think as athletes we're so hard on ourselves and there's always parts of my career I look back and say, oh, if I would have gone five metres to the left that day, I would have made it over that wave and I would have won that race.

Courtney had an incredibly successful career as an Ironwoman.

She's won every title there is to win, the Australian title, Koolingatta Gold.

I was pretty happy, I think, making the podium most of the time.

These girls are the best in the world.

There was probably a period of time around my mid-20s that I started to get really frustrated with coming second.

I had so many seconds and near wins.

I got to this stage where I thought, right, the quickest way to get there is to squeeze some extra sessions in, which is ridiculous, around three a day.

I was at uni at the time.

I started kind of sneaking extra sessions in.

I'd go to the gym in my free time.

And I started probably isolating myself a little from friends and family more and more and thought, this is what I've got to do.

I became more anxious and I started to feel quite low, but I didn't pick up those sort of red flags.