Melbourne’s recent heatwave sent many people beaches, pools and waterways across the western suburbs, but the Maribyrnong River wasn’t one of them.
Swimming has been banned in the lower Maribyrnong since 1923, however, from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, bathers flocked to the river.
It’s this period that Cerdiwen Spark wants to know more about for a book she’s writing on the Maribyrnong.
“I want to talk to people who have swum in the river themselves or have relatives or ancestors who they know swum in the river,” Ms Spark, an Associate Professor of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT, said.
Ms Spark said her interest in those who’ve swum in the river stemmed from reading about those who entered its waters but never came out.
“I’ve been reading a lot of material in the archives about people who’ve drowned in the Maribyrnong.
“And because I’ve collected a lot of stories about drownings, I also wanted to know more about swimming.”
While she’s lived in Footscray for 25 years and runs or walks along the Maribyrnong every day, Ms Spark said her motivation for writing a book on the river wasn’t just personal.
“It’s often been construed as the second river, in the same way that the west has often been considered secondary.
“Where there’s been more effort to regenerate and investigate the history of the Yarra, there hasn’t been the same attention given to the Maribyrnong, though that’s increasing.”
To contribute stories of swimming in the Maribyrnong, email: ceridwen.spark@rmit.edu.au
