Daniel Collins survived a tough final weekend on the national ironman series to keep his top 10 spot - and likely qualification for next summer - by just two points on Sunday at Kurrawa.
The Redhead ironman entered round five on Saturday in 10th place, 10 points clear of his nearest rival and just five from fifth spot in the standings.
But after finishing 15th in the specialist format round, Collins was in danger of dropping out of the top 10 in the final round on Sunday. He still sat 10th but was just six points in front of Jackson Borg before the start of the survival-style race.
With the bottom six of the 20-man field cut after the first of three races, Collins was 15th coming out of the opening ski leg but lifted in the swim to sit ninth heading into the board. He held his spot then came through in a frantic sprint up the beach to take seventh and progress.
However, he was at the rear of the field for most of race two and came 12th to miss a place in the eight-man final and finish on 61 points.
Borg made the final, meaning Collins could only watch on as the Newport athlete tried to take his top 10 spot, which has been enough in recent years to earn requalification.
As Finn Askew won the last round and Matt Bevilacqua beat Ben Carberry in a sprint finish to claim the overall crown, Borg finished last. The eighth-placed finish left Borg in 11th, with 59 points.
Georgia Miller won the ironwoman series, and Naomi Scott the final round.
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