Bridge2Bridge Swim

Turning off the Princes Highway into Bairnsdale, the shift in pace is immediate as you wind toward the Mitchell River. The drive through the Gippsland countryside sets the scene, with the landscape transitioning from rolling pastures to the quiet, low-lying riverbanks where the event hubs. On race morning, the air near the Howitt Park Rowing Club carries that specific, crisp stillness found only by a river at dawn, before the water begins to churn with the arrival of swimmers and the hum of the local community.

The river’s ancient flow

As you enter the water at the Lind Bridge in Wy Yung, you are effectively tracing a path shaped by geological forces half a billion years old. This riverbed sits within a basin whose bedrock reflects the massive tectonic shifts that once defined the Great Dividing Range. Beneath you, the river carries more than just runoff; it holds the history of the Gunaikurnai people, specifically the Tatungalung clan, who have stewarded these banks for millennia. As you swim downstream, keep an eye on the banks for the relict gravel beaches, such as Brownlow’s Point. These are not merely river banks but geological markers of a time when the Bass Strait sea levels were significantly higher, leaving behind these distinct spits that now frame your course.

Landmarks along the current

Swimming the 2.5km distance, you will see the landscape shift as you pass through the heart of Bairnsdale. To the north, the profile of Mount Taylor dominates the horizon, a landmark deeply tied to the region’s 19th-century frontier history and the gold rush era. As you approach the final kilometer, the vertical lines of the St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church tower emerge, a Romanesque structure that acts as a guide toward the finish. The river environment here is active; the Macleod Morass wetlands to the side of the river serve as a vital breeding ground for Australian white ibis and the threatened green and golden bell frog. The 2.5km individual swim and the relay format, which breaks the distance into 600m, 1,000m, and 900m legs, rely on the downstream current to assist your pace. By the time you reach the final jetty at the rowing club, the local atmosphere is in full swing, turning the riverbank into a gathering point for the finish.