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IT’S the mecca of young families, the fitness savvy, the trying-to-be fitness savvy and MAMILs (middle-aged men in lycra).
It’s the home base of angling clubs, sailing clubs and rowing clubs.
It’s the host of fierce school rivalries when the annual Head of the Lake boat race sails into town.
It’s the ugly swamp which transformed into a beautiful lake – Lake Wendouree. Arguably the social hub of Ballarat,
Lake Wendouree’s 6km circuit has provided the perfect venue for countless catch-ups, play dates, debriefs and chit chats for more than 150 years. The name Wendouree comes from the Aboriginal word ‘wendaaree’, which means “go away”.
This is due to the fact that when European settler William Yuille asked an Aboriginal woman the name of the swamp in 1838, that was her reply.
During the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Lake Wendouree played host to the rowing and canoeing events.
Just over five decades later, in 2006, about 5000 people walked across the bone-dry rowing course in what was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity courtesy of a drought.
And, for the record, Ballarat’s very own marathon man Steve Moneghetti holds the record for the fastest lap of the lake – 16 minutes and 10 seconds, which he set in 1992.
The track around Lake Wendouree is named in his honour.