Celebrating Success in the USA w Holly Maine

We’re proud to celebrate the achievements of athletes who embody performance, grit, and resilience. Recently, Holly Maine claimed the title of 2025 USLA Ironwoman Champion, a milestone that highlights her hard work and determination. We sat down with Holly to hear about her preparation, her experience racing at Nationals, and what comes next.

How did you prepare in the lead-up to the 2025 USLA Nationals?

I have been training with Burleigh surf club since October of 2023, so I credit much of my training efforts to Michael King and the Burleigh crew. Kingy and the Burleigh squad showed me a whole new level of training in lifesaving sport that I had no idea was even possible! This past year, I was in Australia from September 2024-May 2025, and then returned home to America for our racing season. I tried to replicate Kingy’s training schedule as best I could, but it’s hard to match 15 trainings sessions a week when you’re training alone! I was also balancing working 40 hours a week as a lifeguard in Malibu. I really relied heavily on my swimming and running sessions because those were the sessions I could always complete no matter the ocean conditions or my scheduled hours at work.

What was the experience like competing on your home beach for Nationals this year?

Nationals was at Huntington Beach which is about 2 hours south of where I train, so it was very nice to be able to just load up my car and drive down there for 3 days! It was also nice being so close to home because it meant my parents were able to come and watch which is so important to me! There was definitely a lot of pressure to win the Iron as I was the defending Ironwoman champion from 2024, and I had just won the 2025 California State Ironwoman title just two weeks because 2025 Nationals. There was actually quite a bit of swell over all 3 days of competition, and I think this was an advantage for me due to all of the training and competing I had done in Australia the last two seasons.

Can you share what it means to you to be crowned the 2025 USLA Ironwoman Champion?

It means the world to me to win the 2025 USLA Ironwoman title. I took a risk moving to Australia to pursue my dream of “training like a professional ironwoman” and it feels so good to know I made the right choice. There’s no better feeling than hard work paying off!

What were the toughest moments during the event, and how did you push through them?

The toughest component of the Ironwoman event at nationals was definitely the surf and tough competition! The order was ski-board-swim—which meant starting with my weakest leg and ending with my strongest— so I knew I would have to push extra hard off the start! I was really happy with my ski performance to come out on the front wave, but with such consistent surf it brought the group behind us right back up. Essentially the same scenario happened in the board leg, meaning there were 4 of us going into the final swim leg equal. I was feeling really confident with my swimming and I knew I had it in me to really fire up and give myself enough space to ensure that even if someone caught a wave behind me, it wouldn’t be enough to overtake me. I thought back to all of the 4:30am swims I did on the Gold Coast and the insanely challenging sets we did there, and I knew I had it in me!

You’ve trained both in Australia and the USA. What are the biggest differences you’ve noticed between the two environments?

The main difference between training in the US versus Australia is that there are no surf clubs in the US! We race under a “surf club” but there are no physical surf clubs or buildings that we meet at to train. We actually all pretty much train on our own because we are so spread out within our “surf clubs.” You generally race for the club associated with the agency you work for — you have to be an active or retired professional lifeguard to race in America! For example, I race for LA County Surf Lifesaving Association, and I live an hour north of LA, and there are also people who are part of the same “club” who live an hour south of LA!   There is no such thing as patrol hours or your bronze course, we are all current or retired professional lifeguards held to a nationwide USLA standard!

Who has played the biggest role in supporting your journey to this point?

My parents, my coach Michael King, my USLA national team coaches, my friends, and my boyfriend all show me so much support! I have made so many amazing friends at Burleigh and it makes all the difference in the world when you are training with your friends! It also helps to have my boyfriend Sam in the sport as well, as we are really committed to holding each other accountable for training, fueling ourselves properly, recovery, etc.! And of course a massive thank you to Engine who has been there the whole way providing me with the best gear to train and race in!

What’s next for you - goals, racing plans, or things you’re looking forward to after the big win and coming back to Australia for another summer?

I will be racing for Team USA at the International Surf Rescue Challenge in New Zealand towards the end of November! I am back in Australia now for my 3^rd racing season here, and I’m hoping to make as many finals as I can this year in the World Ocean Series! I will be doing the Iron series trials in a few weeks as well and I’m hoping to perform well there! And then of course hoping to defend my Ironwoman title back in America during our next summer!