State Iron Man reveals his true secret to success
To catch hold of Jackson Borg, NSW State Iron Man Champion and 2026 competitor, one has to fit around both his work and rigorous training schedule, which leave him only ‘two to four hours a day,’ barring sleep.
“It’s one morning session before work and two after work – swim at the pool most weekday mornings, go to work and then straight to the beach. After those either a run or a gym session,” Jackson says. “If you’re committed to it, building that routine makes it a lot easier, it becomes a force of habit. It’s still done with intent, but balanced.”
Jackson credits his ability to be able to dedicate himself to his training so thoroughly to his soon-to-be wife, Maddie Spencer. “I’m lucky, my fiancée does a lot of the housework throughout the week, I do my chores on the weekend. I wouldn’t be able to do it without her support,” he explains. “She used to be part of the Iron Series, but she’s taken a step back. I wouldn’t be able to do any of it without her. She keeps me going.”
Jackson has been involved with surf lifesaving since he was five years old, but his competitive career only really started when ‘puberty finally hit.’
“I hadn’t even made a state team or a Sydney Northern Beaches team before that, I just got straight to the Australian youth team, which was super cool,” he says. “I was like, ‘Oh, this surf lifesaving thing could actually work out.’ Before then, I enjoyed rolling in the sand and making myself into a chicken schnitzel.”
Even before meeting his fiancée, Jackson still credits his success to the village of people around him. “I’m lucky enough to have won the NSW Iron three times, with last year being my latest one. It’s pretty cool. But really, winning the State Iron is more me being a product of the people that have been around,” he says.
“I wouldn’t have been able to become the athlete that I am now without the help and funding that the Newport Kinghorn Academy supplies all the athletes. The academy is able to help out with gear subsidies and coaching, otherwise it’s an extremely expensive sport.
“Max Brooks is a friend/mentor/role model in the academy and has won practically everything you can win. I’m lucky enough to have been able to train under him and learn from him. Without Max and his dad, James Brooks and everyone, I wouldn’t have been able to even have a shot.”
Jackson’s career as an Iron athlete has continued into this summer’s 2025/26 season, with him starting at the 2025 Coolangatta Gold with its new 25.6km format.
When asked about his most memorable moment from the race, you may expect him to talk about finishing, or the hard work he put in. None of that made his list, not even the difficulty of the soft sand runs, which he described as ‘like running through quicksand.’ Instead, Jackson told PL that it was when he tried chatting with one of his competitors in the middle of the board leg!
“When I do a long course race and I’m feeling all right and settled, I like to chat a little bit. I asked him a question about changing his craft colours over to this year’s new craft. The G-rated version of what he told me was, ‘Why would you ask me this? Shut up.’”
Ultimately, though, this is just part of Jackson’s philosophy when it comes to his dedication to the sport. ‘Enjoy the process,’ is how he describes it. He encourages young people to get involved. “We live in an amazing part of the world, we’ve got the best beaches,” Jackson says.
“You don’t need to be great when you’re young, just go in, and it may turn into something that turns out pretty cool. It all stems from being able to enjoy it, and having people (there) that you enjoy being around.”
