Monash Tritones snag second place

The Monash Tritones have placed second in the annual Giants of the Bay open-water swimming relay, Australia's longest ocean swim.

Comprising University staff and students, the Tritones participated in the 30km swim from Port Arlington to Point Lonsdale, which is aimed at raising money for and improving awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Associate Dean (Education) of the Monash University Faculty of Art Design & Architecture (MADA), Kit Wise, described the relay swim as a “real challenge”.

“It was certainly a challenging swim with some chop to begin with, which generated a fair amount of sea-sickness in the team, but we then took advantage of the increasingly strong currents in the second half of the race to cover the 30 kilometres in just under seven hours," Associate Professor Wise said.

"The last challenge was not getting washed out through the heads into the Bass Strait! 

"We had a great day and I am very proud of the team. We improved on our third place last year, and can aim for first next year. We also raised the second highest amount of donations this year: $6255 - with money still trickling in.”

Along with Associate Professor Wise were staff members Pablo Pizzuto from Monash College, Jenny Bennett from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Priscilla Chow, from MADA, along with former students Friedo Ligthart and Lindsay Crouch.

The support crew included former MADA student Laura Carthew and the volunteer kayakers were Matthew Perkins, also from MADA, and Eugene Docherty, father of a former MADA student.

Donations can still be made to the Monash Tritones team online.