RENOVATING and moving are hectic periods.
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Just ask new Ballarat resident Ebony Ebenwaldner.
That’s why the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series – an annual three-leg event in Port Fairy, Warrnambool and Port Campbell – has come at the right time.
Ebenwaldner, who has family in the south-west, won the Port Fairy open women’s section and will attempt to add a Warrnambool victory to her tally on Saturday.
“I haven’t done a lot of training this year,” she said.
“We moved from Melbourne to Ballarat last month so we have spent a lot of time renovating and my husband (Pete) travels a lot for work so there’s been little training.”
Swimming has been a lifelong passion for Ebenwaldner, who collected eight medals, including five gold, at the world masters games in New Zealand last year.
The marketing manager travelled a lot with her Army-enlisted father as a child but had strong ties to the south-west with family in Koroit and Warrnambool.
“It’s a place we have always come to as a base,” she said.
Ebenwaldner, who is mother to eight-year-old daughter Isabella, is a regular summer visitor to the area and an avid supporter of the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series.
“The pool is good for training but the ocean is a great place to get out and race,” Ebenwaldner said.
“Everyday is different in the ocean and it’s a lot of fun.”
She will miss her favourite leg of the series at Port Campbell due to other commitments.