In an ominous sign for his rivals, six-time champion Shannon Eckstein believes he has plenty of room for improvement despite winning the opening round of the Australian ironman series.
The 29-year-old will line up for the second event at Newcastle on Saturday after claiming an impressive victory in Perth last month.
"I think there are a lot of things I can improve on from Perth," said Eckstein.
"I didn't race really well but it was still pretty comfortable so I'm pretty keen to try and get another win this weekend."
Eckstein said he was eager to rediscover the sort of form he displayed at the world championships in November when he won a fourth world ironman title.
"I actually raced really well in Adelaide at the world titles when I was pretty pumped to do that to equal Trevor's (Hendy) record," he said.
Northcliffe's Eckstein is leading this summer's six-race series ahead of Mooloolaba duo Ali Day and Matt Poole.
"Winning in Perth was obviously a good start to the series but there's a long way to go yet," said Eckstein.
"So I probably need to try and get some good points this weekend to keep myself in contention overall. It looks like it's going to be flat and hot so it could be a long day in Newcastle.
Eckstein highlighted the Eliminator event as an area in which he can improve on in Newcastle.
"These eliminator races are tough," he said.
"I don't think I've won a five-race eliminator. I've won plenty of three-race eliminators but we don't do these too often so it's another challenge for me.
"I will be trying to get a good start, get out the front and stay out of trouble and conserve a bit of energy. The last two races are pretty quick so you can't conserve too much there."
Eckstein failed to make it into the final race last year in Newcastle when he was overtaken on a wave coming back into the beach during the swim leg as Zane Holmes claimed the spoils.
Meanwhile, North Burleigh's Brodie Moir will take a points lead into round two of the ironwoman series after winning in Perth.
Moir is the in-form racer after winning the world ironwoman championship and Coolangatta Gold title.
Courtney Hancock and Naomi Flood are second and third.
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