A yen for an outback aquatic challenge took a group of keen Sydney long-distance swimmers on a record-making swim in Western Australia’s Lake Argyle.
Story by Kieran Kelly
The copper-red mountains of the ancient Carr Boyd Range provide a stunning counterpoint to the blues of the sky before us as they disappear into the distance. The view to the north depicts more blue, just a sheet of water with large islands dappling its surface. It is here that the meandering Ord River has been transformed by man into one of Australia’s great contradictions – a body of water in the outback that is so large that its far banks cannot be seen.
This is the sight that stands before six swimmers from Sydney’s Balmoral Beach Club, who have set out to tackle the leviathan body of water known as Lake Argyle. Located in the eastern Kimberley region of Western Australia, Lake Argyle is one of the few man-made structures visible from space. The swimmers – architect Mike Munro, veterinarian Dr Geraldine Hunt, executive Andrew Rosengren, property developer Bob Johnson, art dealer Jon Attwater and I, an investment manager – are bound by a love of competitive swimming, a dream to be the first people to swim across Lake Argyle and a desire to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
This story excerpt is from Issue #49
Outback Magazine: Oct/Nov 2007
