Ali Day powered to his fourth Coolangatta Gold title and is already anticipating a possible showdown with the only man who has a better record, five-time winner Caine Eckstein.
The Surfers Paradise surf ironman star crossed the line in the 41.8km endurance test more than five minutes ahead of his nearest rival, Matt Bevilacqua (Kurrawa), with rising talent Alex Wright (Alexandra Headland) third.
In the elite women's race, Northcliffe's Courtney Hancock battled to hold back tears after she won her second title ahead of Allie Britton (North Burleigh) and Rebecca Creedy (Kurrawa) five years after her previous win.
Day's win in three hours 54 minutes and 29 seconds puts him one victory short Eckstein's record tally and there was immediate talk of 30-year-old Eckstein returning next year for a clash of the titans five years after his last win.
"Caine is the reason I first wanted to win this race and it would be amazing to maybe take him on next year," Day said.
"When I was young and saw him win his first race I thought 'how does he do that' and just wanted to be like him.
"The respect is mutual between the both of us, which is all you can ask for.
"I saw him on the course again today, like last year, and high fived him.
"We'll see what happens next year but for now I'll enjoy this fourth one."
Day said he was happy to break away from most of the 25-strong elite men's field in the opening ski leg, allowing him to dictate the rest of the race.
Hancock had endured some frustrating defeats since her 2011 win in the women's race, making her win the more special.
She was challenged early by Britton and Creedy but took charge in the 3.5km swim and pulled away to a comfortable win.
Britton finished second, just under three minutes behind Hancock, while Creedy was another four minutes back in third place.
