Swim to the Rings event coordinators say it will be a vastly different spectacle for onlookers if they receive only a $3000 tourism grant.
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The Ballarat Triathlon Club’s applied for a $22,000 tourism grant for marketing, merchandise and technology for the inaugural Swim to the Rings event. But in a report to council, officers recommended a grant of only $3000.
The tourism grant will voted on by Ballarat City council at an ordinary meeting this Wednesday.
Ballarat Triathlon Club president Dale Coutts said if the lesser grant is approved, it would mean the infrastructure of the event is scaled back, impacting spectator experience.
“All that means is that the really nice, fancy things we were going to do will be scaled back,” he said.
“Instead of 10 buses, we’ll just have a couple, and we won’t have a drone with footage going back to a $7000 TV screen.”
The event will be held along the Lake Wendouree Rowing course on March 25. The 2000m distance swim will see competitors – including professional athletes – race along the 1956 Olympic rowing course, with races for novice swimmers also available.
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Mr Coutts said the swim legs will not change based on Wednesday’s decision, with plenty of interest in the event coming from outside of Ballarat.
“With some external sponsorship and a tourism grant, we think there would be good sponsors in the future and we won’t need any support from council,” he said.
“The feedback we’re getting is sensational. We were talking to Run Ballarat organisers, and 50 per cent of their registrations for the event come in the last two weeks, and we think we’ll be similar.
“We don’t want it to just be Ballarat, we want people to come from Melbourne and Geelong.
“People are happy to travel and do swims if there’s a good event, like the Lorne Pier to Pub. It’s the first year, we’ll see how we go and build from there."
According to council officers, the event has “the potential to build over time” and become a feature of Ballarat’s sporting calendar.
The event is anticipated to have an attendance of 2500, with more than 500 people expected to brave Lake Wendouree’s waters, with a predicted economic impact of $127,500 in its first year.
