The Hervey Bay triathlon club is running their 9th Beach House Hotel Hervey Bay 100 and looking at a capacity field. One of their smaller events – as part of the multisports festival is still hitting its straps.

The Kingfisher Bay Resort Barge2Beach ocean swim, now in its 3rd year, has become a permanent fixture in the weekend’s program, enticing people from far afield to come and tackle the challenging swim.

The first event was run in 2017 and was a long-kept dream of Ron Morgan, a local salty legend. The event was brought to life by current Hervey Bay 100 race organiser Jeff Morris, and Kingfisher Bay Resort who are sponsoring the event by providing the Fraser Dawn Barge to transport the swimmers to the start line.

In the first year, a hundred swimmers safely make the 2km journey back to the beach at Enzo’s. 2018 saw some areas of the event smoothed out, and 140 swimmers enjoy the barge journey and swim.

With a few weeks left to get your entry in, the 140 mark had already been surpassed, potentially a full barge of 200 swimmers could take the plunge on November 23. Ocean swimming has a cult following, so combined with the now widely known ‘Hundy’ this event looks to have cemented itself a place in the region’s sporting calendar.

The Barge2Beach along with the long-running iconic Pier to Pub swim hosted by the Hervey Bay Surf Lifesaving Club and the new Enzo’s Ocean Swim Classic by Tribe Multisport has put the Fraser Coast on the sporting map with these kinds of events.

Bean Beat Cafe has also thrown their weight behind these events by making a ‘Triple Crown’ series out of the 3 swim events.

So, sit back and enjoy, or get out and involved with the Barge2Beach or Hervey Bay 100 Triathlon this year, on 23 & 24 November. Don’t forget to show all the visitors to town what a friendly region we truly are.

To find out more or to register go to www.hb100.com.au

Article by Jeffery Morris

Photos by Kim Parnell