Swimming in Sydney Harbour

Just before I jumped into Sydney Harbour today I asked the wetsuit-attired bloke with the loudspeaker if there were any scuba divers down below looking out for sharks and protecting the swimmers above. He told me there were two "and me".

I did sort of wonder why he wasn't down there too, but there was no time to ask. He had an important job to do. I had to accept that if the sharks were hungry, two divers with electric prods/sonar devices/whatever (and possibly as portly as their land-lubbing mate) weren't going to make much difference.

Today's event was the 10th anniversary of Sydney Harbour swim. This is my fourth time and, despite the hefty $55 entry fee (please explain), it's a swim I love. My daughter Precious Princess (PP) was my swimming mate today because Davo is still recuperating from a broken wrist. 

Just before she jumped into the harbour with the other 14-19 year olds who started in the first wave, PP confided that she needed to do a "piddle". 

"Darls, it's too late now. There's only one place to go." I pointed her in the right direction, all the while thinking about those stories of surfers who've been chomped after pissing in their wetsuits. 

Que sera sera. 

The 500-odd participants in the 2 km swim followed this delightful course - out from the Sydney Opera House, across to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, in to Farm Cove and back to the Man O' War Steps at THE HOUSE. I've said it before, but it's an incredible feeling to turn to breathe and out of the corner of your eye, glimpse one of Sydney's iconic buildings. It makes me feel happy.   

I still think this swim is a shorter distance than the advertised 2 km, but I'm quite happy to accept a faster than usual time.

The weather was perfect SUN SUN SUN and the water warm and silken.

PP survived and was there to greet me at the end of the swim.

Afterwards we hung around in the hope we'd win a prize in the raffle. We didn't.  

But hey, who needs a raffle prize when life is this good.   

PS: It seems that almost every week I'm sending out my sympathetic thoughts to those people affected by devastating natural disasters. This week it's to the people of Japan. My heart goes out to you. 

Sharks in Sydney Harbour

I start blabbing about sharks and my know-it-all friends (two actually) come onboard with fresh information. 
Mrs Onyabike refers me to a story in The Weekend Australian magazine, which compares the great white's hunting behaviour to that of a serial killer. According to the research quoted in the story, great whites are particular about their prey and return to the same location when about to hunt for food.

Supposedly to confirm the validity of the research, the journo then goes on to describe in gory detail those fatal shark attacks in Australia where the victim appears to have been the 'chosen one'.

I would like to mention that two of the fatalities were off the coast of South Australia and another was in WA (the breeding grounds for great whites) and another in a boating accident kilometres from the shore in Northern Queensland in 1977.

The weirdest of all though were two attacks off Byron Bay, 10 years apart, where both male victims had the last name 'Ford'.

My advice is to be careful swimming at Byron Bay if your last name is Ford. There's a local serial killer great white seeking out all Fords.

But really, what's the white pointer of this story? 

There were no dates provided, so the research obviously isn't new. My guess is it was commissioned by an editor who suddenly realised it was summer. And that's when Australians go to the beach. LIGHT BULB MOMENT. He then gets his hands on a couple of shark photos bound to scare the crap out of your average joe and sends his hack reporter off to research serial killer great whites. If you're interested, here's the link: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/kill-zone/story-e6frg8h6-1225971145872

The next lot of news comes from Davo, who should be mowing the lawn on a Sundee, but instead has his mug (this is slang for 'face') in the paper (which means he was reading the newspaper when he should've been doing domestic chores*).

In The Sun-Herald, fishing columnist David Lockwood advises readers not to swim in the harbour because there's lots of sharks about.

I reckon this is scarier than Mrs Onyabike's story - according to local fishermen, whaler and bull sharks were spotted breeching in the harbour last week. Mary Mother of God (dunno how the rest goes as I'm not Catholic, but you get the gist).

Lockwood writes: 'Fishing guides report seeing sharks up to two metres cruising in the harbour this month.

'The potential maneaters have been spotted off the Opera House, in Darling Harbour, at Dobroyd Point and even in Middle Harbour.'

CRIKEY. My daughter Miss Hissy sailed at Middle Harbour today - she's also there tomorrow and Wednesday.

While summer 2010 was relatively free from shark sightings, it looks like the big fellas are back because of the abundance of fish in Sydney Harbour, including bonito and kingfish.

There are two Sydney Harbour swims coming up in the next few months. Am I worried? At the moment I'm more concerned about The Hiss. I reckon she's about as tender as Wagyu beef!

*explanation for anyone born after 1965