Jackson was half a minute behind Hanrahan at the final transition but finished just three seconds away from Hanrahan at the end of the 500m swim, 16.5km cycle and 5km run.

Hanrahan’s winning time was 56:49.

Almost two minutes separated Hanrahan and Jackson after the swim but the latter’s quick bike leg made the finish very interesting.

Jackson was 33 seconds quicker over the run but Hanrahan wasn’t going to be caught.

Andrew Paul (1:02:54) finished third while Fran Grady (1:11:38) was the fastest female.

Hanrahan was always aware of where Jackson was on the final leg but had to work hard to maintain his lead.

“He got close on the bike but on the two out-and-back runs you can see where the others are. On the second lap he got pretty close,” he said.

“He never got past me but he was right on my shoulder until those last couple of 100 metres.

“My swim is slowly getting better. The bike ride was pretty solid, with a bit of a breeze out there.”

The battle for the honours in the short course was an equally exciting affair.

Rod Lovett was the first competitor back to transition after the bike leg but Danny Weal and Kirsten Howard were not far away in their pursuit.

Howard produced the second-fastest bike leg of the day (25:31), only behind Jackson’s 24:37, while Weal’s was quick over the run leg with a time of 12:07.

Lovett’s consistent speed over all three legs saw him finish the 300m swim, 16.5km and 2.5km run in a time of 46:16.

Weal (46:42) finished in second and Howard (47:12) was the first woman home and third overall.

Andrew Paul (51:12) was the third man home. 

Caitlyn Lovett (54:21) and Sarah Morris (55:26) were the women’s minor placegetters on the short course.