Bridge2Bridge Swim

Floating downstream on the gentle summer current of the Mitchell River carries swimmers straight through the heart of Bairnsdale. The Bridge2Bridge Swim is an open water river race held on the Mitchell River at Howitt Park in Bairnsdale, Victoria. It offers a pure downstream passage through freshwater currents during the peak of the Australian summer in January. The main event follows a scenic 2.5-kilometre line that starts at Lind Bridge in Wy Yung and carries swimmers downriver to the jetty at the Howitt Park Rowing Club. Swimmers can take on the full 2.5 kilometres as solo participants, which is open to competitors aged 17 and over. The distance is also open to relay teams from age 13, divided into three consecutive legs of 600 metres, 1,000 metres, and 900 metres.

The Bridge2Bridge Splash Swim returned to Bairnsdale in 2024 after a hiatus of several years, reviving a community tradition on the Mitchell River. The atmosphere on race day is relaxed and welcoming, with locals cheering along the banks and swimmers gathering on the shaded riverside lawns of Howitt Park after the finish.

The Bridge2Bridge course from Lind Bridge to the rowing club

The Bridge2Bridge course begins at Lind Bridge and heads downstream to the Howitt Park Rail Bridge, ending at the rowing club. In the relay, the first leg is 600 metres from Lind Bridge to the Dog Hole, the second is one kilometre to the Port of Bairnsdale, and the last is 900 metres to the finish. Wetsuits are allowed on the Mitchell River course, and swim caps must be worn, preferably a bright colour for visibility. The organisers describe the swim as heading downstream, hopefully with a flow, and then under the Rail Bridge before the finish at the rowing club landing.

The Mitchell River silt jetties into Lake King

Downstream from the finish at Howitt Park, the Mitchell River winds past Bairnsdale toward Lake King and Jones Bay, feeding the lake system together with the Tambo and Nicholson Rivers. About eight kilometres downriver from the race area, sediment deposited over thousands of years has created the Mitchell River silt jetties. This classic digitate delta formation is recognized as one of the finest natural examples of its kind in the world. These remarkable long, narrow silt banks extend for more than eight kilometres straight into Lake King. At Eagle Point, towering red limestone cliffs look down across the Mitchell River where the southern bank continues out toward Point Dawson.

The south jetty bank is accessible by car, giving visitors a route alongside the water where wild kangaroos are frequently seen along the grassy strips. {{h2:Riverine Street poplars and the Macleod Morass wetlands}} Along Riverine Street, bordering the Mitchell River, a large colony of nationally threatened grey-headed flying foxes roosts high up in the canopy of poplar trees. As the silt jetties formed over millennia, they enclosed and sheltered the adjacent shallows, creating the Macleod Morass wetland right beside the river system. Across the water near Paynesville sits Raymond Island, measuring six kilometres long by two kilometres wide and lying only 200 metres offshore. In 1953, koalas were introduced to Raymond Island.

Punt Flat flood history and the traditional rivers

Historic flood events hit Bairnsdale in 1870 and again in 1893–94, with the later surge cresting 76 millimetres higher than the 1870 level. Today, Punt Flat is peaceful and calm, and the river flows steadily as an easy, scenic open water swimming corridor. The surrounding Gippsland basin is fed by neighboring waterways. The Nicholson River descends 440 metres over a total course of 83 kilometres on its way to Lake King. In the Tatungalung language, the river is named Ngarrak walang, meaning "back-stone," and its traditional Aboriginal names also include Yowen-burrun and Dart'yung, meaning "root of water plant." Upstream, the Nicholson River Dam created a reservoir that supplied town water to Lakes Entrance until 1995. Rising in the Victorian Alps, the Tambo River runs for more than 186 kilometres before emptying into Lake King, taking its name from an Aboriginal Ngarigo word meaning "fish."