Chris, and husband Nick, operate Echuca Printers and are among the many supporters of the Murray River event which involves a 3km (2857 metres to be exact, according to one swimmer I was saddled up next to at the presentations) swim to Morrison’s Winery.
There were 150 pairs of the thongs printed for the event, featuring the route that the swimmers take to reach their ultimate destination.
This is the third edition of the thongs, handed to every competitor as they leave the water to make their to the top of the bank along the rocky path.
“I really didn’t like that walk up the hill in bare feet, so we came up with the thongs concept,” Chris said.
The open-air footwear complement the T-shirts, which were on display all weekend, during the junior event on Saturday morning, the twilight triathlon on Saturday afternoon and the open water swim on Sunday.
"These thongs are our third edition. The first were multi-coloured, last year was a charcoal colour and this year they are blue.
“They are very popular with the competitors,” Chris said, slipping her own pair off to provide a closer inspection.
Chris and her daughter, Olivia, were both involved in the swim on Sunday morning.
They were a little behind the overall winner, Mark Stone, who finished the course in the mid-20-minute range as the last competitor to the finish line took 53 minutes to reach the destination.
Stone, and eventual runner-up Brad Mellington, took different swim lines in the event, which may have contributed to the eventual result.
There really was no need for wetsuits on Sunday as the water temperature was 23℃.
The event is part of the Australian open water swimming season, following on from a series of events which have been staged since October last year.
Morley Auto Group, which has sponsored the triathlon since day one, play a huge role in the multi-sport weekend and Triathlon Victoria was also a major partner of the Echuca Moama Club.
More than 60 per cent of the participants were from the Campaspe, Goulburn Valley or Bendigo regions, the triathlon club extending entries until the morning of the event after further interest was shown in the swim.
As for the thongs, they are part of the entry fee, along with the breakfast which followed the event.
