Tim Jacobs

The weather wasn’t what the doctor ordered –but it was a fascinating, gruelling race between some of the best surfski paddlers in the world...

Perth, Australia: Five-time Olympian and Australia’s most celebrated surf lifesaver Clint Robinson will take a diversion from his London Olympic campaign to go for The Doctor in Perth this weekend.

Jeremy Cotter knows there will be no time to slacken off if he wants to add his name to the coveted list of champions who have won Australia’s premier ocean ski paddling race – “The Doctor” in Perth this Saturday.

You wouldn’t blame Gold Coast-based ski paddler Bruce Taylor if he still had nightmares of Tim Jacobs coming from the clouds to claim victory in last year’s dramatic finish to “The Doctor “– Australia’s biggest and most successful ocean ski paddling event.

Some of Australia’s best paddlers diced it out at the Vajda 20 Beaches Ocean Classic this year – but Olympian Clint Robinson showed overwhelming form and finished 1 1/2 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, Tim Jacobs.

If Tim Jacobs wins 20 Beaches tomorrow, he’ll extend his record tally of victories to seven…  And given his form in Hong Kong where he won the Dragon Run against arguably the toughest field in history, it’s difficult to see who could stop him.

The Dragon Run (this year sponsored by Steelcase) has been on my wish list since it first ran in 2007.  Now that I’ve done it, it’s still on my wish list – only more so!

Australia's muscleman and unsung hero, Tim Jacobs (36) to-day issued due-reminder of his immense endurance-paddling talents by winning Hong Kong's 23km Steelcase Dragon Run final world surfski series event in most emphatic fashion when he raced across the finish-line 52 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, South Africa's 2011 world-champion Dawid Mockè..

NOT even three-time world ironman champion Shannon Eckstein could stop Tim Jacobs on Saturday in the Vajda Narrabeen Downwind Challenge.

This year’s Steelcase Dragon Run, set to take place on 19 November in Hong Kong, will have the most competitive international field of surfski paddlers yet.