“Unprecedented” World-famous Noosa triathlon cancelled due to sharks

“How much bigger can the elephant in the room get?”

They don’t make triathlons any bigger than the ol Noosa one, eight and a half thou’ low body fat mad dogs swinging through the gorgeous coastal town famous for an astonishing sub-tropical beauty and waves that can still make a jaded fool smile as if Christmas morn.

And while Noosa’s importance to the modern-day shredder has diminished a little, although the last time I flew up there to chase a cyclone swell I was sharing the green-walled waves with Julian Wilson and Wade Goodall, it remains a natural treasure.

Surfing at Ti Tree Bay,” the shaper Bob McTavish once said, “is like having a cup of tea with God.

Re: the Noosa triathlon, there’s a 1.5km swim along pretty Main Beach, a 40km bike ride through the splendour of Noosa’s hinterland and then a 10 click run through town. It’s the biggest Olympic-distance triathlon in the world and Australia’s most prestigious one.

Wait a sec, scratch the swim.

For the first time in its 43-year history, was cancelled yesterday thereby turning the triathlon into a biathlon after fleets of sharks were spotted and lifesavers said hell naw, we ain’t going out there.

The triathlon’s Head of ops Rebecca Van Pooss said, “In the circumstances we had this morning, lifesavers wouldn’t put those people out on the water, which is totally understandable. So, based on that decision, we made our decision that we also can’t put athletes in the water.”

Now, over at Joel Nancarrow’s Facebook page, and we sure do like Joel Nancarrow around these parts ’cause he ain’t afraid to call a spade a spade, as they say, he writes: “How much bigger can the elephant in the room get????? This is the first time ever this event has been cancelled due to sharks!!!!! And before the “more drones, more sightings” crowd pipe up, helicopters have been around for a few years or more now and somehow, it’s never happened before. Could it just possibly be that just maybe, there are more sharks????? This is going to be the new normal, looking forward to hearing the excuses on the news channels from the wildlife warriors about this one!!!!!!”

One competitor chimed in, “I raced there today and the life guard said they spotted over 20 sharks this morning. Including 2.5m+ bulls.”

Interesting, although predictable, back and forthing in the comments with one reader positing, “The actual real elephant in the room is ‘overpopulation of humans.'”