Sport

Claire from Allora P-10 State School has set three new swim records in the Pool. At the School’s recent Annual Interhouse Swimming Carnival Claire won the Open 50m Freestyle, Open 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly.

The Clarence Valley’s next potential Ironwoman, Kalani Ives, has made the move to train under an Olympian after being crowned the National Junior Ladies champion in the Australian Ocean Racing Series. Kalani, who started Nippers when she was seven, competed in water and beach disciplines as a member of Yamba Surf Lifesaving Club for 10 years, until she claimed the NSW under 17 ironwoman title in 2021.

Australia’s volunteer tagging database Infofish recently became the first citizen science tagging program in the world to tag 1 million fish since its inception in 1986 ... “Community-based fish tagging has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the movement patterns and growth rates of many fish species, and the Infofish program is recognised as a world leader in this space": Mark Furner, Qld Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries.

Out now!

A team of Australian Pony Club riders have been having the time of their lives in New Zealand after being selected to be part of this year’s Inter Pacific Exchange. The four riders – Ashleigh Bennett of Young NSW, Bridget Mouat of Riddells Creek Victoria, Georgia Elias of Launceston, Tasmania and Georgia Goss of Eastern Hills WA – competed in two events while overseas, as well as fitting in a lot of sight-seeing across the 18 days of their trip.

The National Clydesdale and Heavy Horse Festival went ahead last weekend with a heavy heart, marred by a road accident on the afternoon before the show began that claimed the life of one of its own ... Organisers however, decided the show must go on and put on a cracker of an event to mark the 15th anniversary since it was first held at Werribee Park in 2008.

Local people and organisations were recognised for their community service at breakfast ceremonies in towns across the Towong Shire on Australia Day ... The joint Citizens of the Year are former Corryong pharmacists, Catherine and Stewart Ross, who have had a long involvement in community affairs ... Local cafè owner, Stuart Spratt, was presented with a Special Recognition award ... Community Group of the Year award went to the supporters and committee members of the Corryong & District Memorial Hall and the RSL Hall ...

Inspirational community contributions celebrated. Well known Narrandera Shire resident Rex Evans was rewarded for his generous and ongoing contribution to Narrandera shire communities over many years with the 2023 Citizen of the Year Award ... "our town wouldn’t be what is without volunteers": Senior Citizen of the Year, Beverly Hughes.

Xavier Wishart spent a week of his school holidays in Hobart – but he didn’t have much time to see the sights – he was there for the Under 17 National Championships of cricket. The championships were held at several locations across Hobart from January 16 to 23 with teams playing six matches.

It was a full day of action for the Koondrook Barham Football Netball Club on Thursday with the famous Trend Skate and Surf and River Raiders Annual Australia Day Lilo Race and a $7,000 Raiders 22/23 Reverse Draw. The lilo race had 217 entries, which sees contestants paddle or float from the Koondrook boat ramp downstream to the Barham boat ramp.

Members of the Project Kingfish research team visited Lord Howe Island (LHI) in December. Project Kingfish is a research program funded by the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust that aims to enable collaboration between scientists and expert anglers to improve understanding of the East Australia yellowtail kingfish stock.

The Shire of Gingin and the Department of Health are warning people to avoid swimming and other full-body water immersion activities in Moore River at Guilderton after recent sampling results detected amoeba and high bacteria levels at several sampling locations.

"We expect that these 51 strategically placed golf events over three years will attract more than 16,000 visitors to the host regions, injecting an estimated $13.5 million into the regional NSW economy": Minister for Tourism, Ben Franklin.

Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor, Cr Tanya Milligan is honoured to be part of an upcoming international delegation to north America, which is set to focus on a range of issues for the Lockyer Valley. The Council of Mayors South East Queensland delegation will put a spotlight on waste management issues and better transport connectivity ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tennant Creek’s born and bred doctor Sarah Goddard took the top honours in the Local Government 2023 Australia Day Awards for Tennant Creek. Dr Goddard has spent well over a decade reaching her goals to become a doctor and Citizen of the Year Awards adds to her list of growing accolades, winning best Indigenous doctor in Australia late last year in the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) awards.

The honest Standardbred was once the poor relation of the racehorse world. While the Thoroughbreds had a chance of finding a life after racing, the Standardbred was far less likely to get that opportunity. In the past 20 years – and especially since 2015 when Harness Racing Victoria set up its “HERO” rehoming program – things have really changed and they can be found in any number of occupations, without a sulky in sight.

Despite some major setbacks, life was back on track for this Victorian rider before the unthinkable happened ... Mietta Innes-Irons is a remarkable young woman who has faced more obstacles in her life than anyone should, but still aims for the future ... “I am aiming to get onto the Australian Para Dressage High Performance Squad and qualify for the 2024 Paris Paralympics."

If you’re aged between 3 and 60 and grew up in the district, chances are you were taught to swim by Geoff Dale. Geoff has celebrated 30 years of his Geoffswim program, which has seen him teach swimming and water safety to the youth of Cohuna since 1992. But his swimming teaching goes back much further – to 1967.

More than 80 rowers from The Southport School (TSS) on the Gold Coast recently made waves on the Clarence River in Grafton. Between January 18-23, the boys, aged from 13 to 18, trained along a 20km stretch of water in their respective age groups in preparation for the upcoming 2023 Brisbane Grammar School Regatta on January 28, and the 2023 GPS Head of the River Rowing Championships on March 11.

Helen Whiteman. Last Saturday saw the third and final race in the Pacer Series, designed to introduce our new and novice sailors to the rules of racing and competitive sailing ... Rob Champion also took the opportunity to bring along a friend and bring his father's Fireball out of retirement to race with the rest of the fleet.

With lightning-fast hands, Jaydyn Coggins stacks cups faster than eyes can focus – the former Barham, now Adelaide resident has a Guinness World Record under his belt. Cup stacking is a sport in which competitors race the clock to stack up cups in set formations and pack them up again.

Returning to Mount Peel Bushland Park in 2023 will be Hike to Heal, an interactive hiking adventure suitable for all levels of fitness and hiking experience. Hikers have fun following clues at the Mt Peel Bushland Park or a park of their choosing to find natural treasures and solve riddles as they walk along the trail.