H2O

Growing up on the Gold Coast,  knowing that you could just pop down for a quick dip was never something you considered particularly awesome. It's how you grew up, the beach was 'just there' and the only time you couldn't swim in it is if the lifeguards officially closed it because the weather warnings were so severe.

Water quality was a concept that Queenslanders discuss in a totally different way. Here's what we mean when discussing the quality of the water:

• are there any bluebottles?
• are there any jellyfish?
• what about cornflakes (those buggers are annoying as all hell if they get in your togs)
• much swell? any sweeps?
• can you see the bottom or are there are few rips around (meaning a lot of sand churn)?

Here's what you don't discuss:

• pollution
• bacteria levels
• the EPA
• rainfall (except when it turns the canal brown, then that's just a general nod of the head acknowledgement that 'we've hadda bitta rain')
• not swimming

Since I've taken to the sport of triathlon, I've been introduced to a whole new obsession over water quality, a subset to the obsession over the weather. Water quality has completely dominated the triathlon season in Melbourne this year and both sprint triathlons have been converted to duathlons because of bacteria levels in Port Phillip Bay. I'll admit, coming from Queensland, this whole concept of cancelling swims was so foreign to me. Why do that because of some rain? Sure the water might be a bit brown, but ruin the whole event? It's only now that I understand that Melbourne's suboptimal drainage system has lead to this ridiculous scenario which is making me wonder whether we'll see a triathlon at all this season.

It got me thinking that the only way to guarantee a triathlon is to travel. Interstate. So I had planned on doing just that, registering myself for the Canberra Olympic distance triathlon which is also a World Championship qualifying event. This was all looking quite tidy, fitting nicely into the schedule, until a bomb was dropped in my inbox today:

Well not quite algae - but BLOODY BACTERIA. Levels in Lake Burley Griffin are so high that the swim will "almost certainly" be cancelled and replaced with....a duathlon. They must be kidding. And apparently a fair trade for a 1.5km swim is a 5km run. It's not.

So now it seems that not even interstate travel can guarantee a triathlon. I swear it feels like "Where's Wally?" this triathlon season. So, having pondered the scenario for all of 5 seconds, my flights and accommodation were cancelled, weekend training re-scheduled and I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be racing again until 2012.

But every cloud has a silver lining. The 2.80.20 Challenge Cairns race has been simmering in my mind for awhile now. The timing isn't great; 4 weeks after Busselton. But Cairns will guarantee a swim and the course is magic. And now the Challenge Cairns crew have moved the swim to an even better location with a deep water start, there is something burning in me to give this race a shot. I'll be in peak form, I'll be trained and ready to go...I just have no idea how I'll feel after pushing out my first 70.3 and whether I'd even be interested in fronting up 4 weeks later and racing again.......but I might. And who doesn't love a destination race?

Now THAT'S a swim course!!