Ali Day has done it again.

The 35-year-old former Kiama nipper claimed his sixth Shaw and Partners Iron Series title over the weekend, completing a fairytale career that could hardly have been scripted better.

Last year, Day announced he would retire from professional competition at the end of the 2025/26 season, before going on to claim his record-breaking 11th Coolangatta Gold crown.

Many believed no ending could be sweeter than that - but Day wasn’t finished yet.

His sights were set on winning all four rounds of the Shaw and Partners Iron Series and, heading into last weekend’s final round, he had positioned himself perfectly, tied at the top of the points leaderboard with Ethan Callaghan.

Despite that, Day admitted frustration with his round-three performance, having won only one elimination iron race and finished fifth in the final.

“Last weekend didn’t end how I wanted but we still enjoyed all of it,” Day wrote. “This weekend, we go again.”

All was set. While Day remained atop the leaderboard entering the final round, nothing was guaranteed - the title would come down to the final elimination ironman on the last day.

The format consisted of three ironman races, with the last two finishers eliminated after each race, leaving the series winner to be crowned at the conclusion.

In race one, Day finished sixth to stay in contention. In race two, he improved to fourth. Then, in the final race, he delivered when it mattered most.

“I felt like I set the race up really well and once I got that wave on my own, you’re just hoping on the board that it will open up,” Day said.

“I had to roll one, then just got back on and paddled for my life all the way back to the beach. I just can’t believe it.”

Day said the moment felt surreal - the kind of fairytale ending athletes dream about, but rarely experience.

“No one gets that,” he said. “I’ve followed sport all my life and to even be in a position to have a chance was special. To win it - and to win it the way I did - was pretty special.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I wish I could bottle that feeling of coming in. People were messaging me during the week saying, ‘Imagine if you got that.’

“But it didn’t bother me if I didn’t get it. I was more concerned about putting myself in that last race, in that position.”

Raced at Miami Beach, Day’s final professional appearance drew a huge crowd of fans and supporters, whose presence he said meant everything.

“Just hitting the beach - and the whole week leading in - I felt so much support,” he said. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I finished 12th today.”

“To finish on top, to come in on that wave and see a wall of people on either side… I cannot wait to watch that back. It’s not only my victory - there are so many people in my team and so many people to thank.

“My wife must just be beside herself, the same with my mum and dad, my in-laws - all my family. I can’t believe they got to witness that. I’m a legacy sort of guy; I was happy with five, but six has a nice ring to it.”

Day’s six Shaw and Partners Iron Series titles add to an extraordinary list of achievements, including an unmatched 11 Coolangatta Gold victories, four Australian Ironman Championships, a World Ironman title, four Queensland Open Ironman titles, Australian and state representative honours, and induction into the Surf Life Saving Australia Hall of Fame.