Community
22 January, 2025
Aquathon eyes poolside upgrades
COBDEN Aquathon returns to Cobden Outdoor Swimming Pool this Saturday, January 25.
In it’s third year running, Aquathon boasts seven combined running and swimming events, starting with under eights through to the final Aquathon Challenge.
With a small fee to enter and a raffle running on the day, this event fundraises for continual improvements to be made to the facilities at the pool.
Cobden Swimming Pool Committee president Rhikki-lee Coverdale has much planned for the big event.
“This is a fairly new event we’re running to try and raise funds to do upgrades around the pool,” she said.
“Every year we’ve changed the event program but last year’s was good so we’re running it again this year.
“We’re trying to make this a family-friendly event suitable for everyone. There’s a team event for those who might not want to swim, so they can just do the running portion.
“Then there’s the Aquathon, a big challenge for fit people who want to challenge themselves a bit.”
Aquathon began as an idea by the committee to raise money and bring the community together.
“We wanted to try and find an event that included the pool, but because of where it’s located, we weren’t able to include much more without closing roads,” Mrs Coverdale said.
“We were lucky enough to get a hold of the Cobden Primary School principal at the time, allowing us access to their oval that connects to our pool at the back.
“We want to get more community and family- friendly events happening again in the Cobden area.”
Mrs Coverdale hopes Cobden Aquathon will be bigger this year than last, as the turnout has grown with each reiteration.
“People all the way up Torquay came last year,” she said.
“People travel to the event, whether it’s five minutes or thirty. We hope many members of the community will get involved.”
This year there will be a fire truck in for the mid-event break, allowing kids to play and learn about the work done by the Country Fire Authority.
For lunch there will be a barbecue, and snow cones and fairy floss will be available thanks to Sandy’s Fairy Floss.
“We’re trying to include more of the community,” Mrs Coverdale said.
“We’ve been lucky enough to get Sandy’s Fairy Floss.
“She’s based in Cobden and is helping us by donating a snow cone machine and fairy floss machine for the day, which we haven’t had in previous years.”
The swimming events will commence from 2pm onwards.
For more information, visit the Cobden Outdoor Pool Friends Facebook page.
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