It was meant to be a one-off event, but it looks like the Mighty Murrumbidgee Duck Race is here to stay. At least for the foreseeable future.
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The second annual duck race took place at the beach on Saturday, replacing the famed Gumi race of bygone years.
Water levels along the river were deemed too low, forcing the last-minute cancellation of the 2019 Gumi. Since the race's revival in 2011, it was the first time it had been called off.
At the time, there were 60 registered teams waiting to float down the river. Though those teams may have to wait a few years longer to see their day on the river.
"This is the lowest I've ever seen the river," said Tim Sheather, vice president of the event host group, the South Wagga Apex Club.
"Depending on the rain this year, we might be able to get the gumis back in the water next year, but I dare say the ducks will be back again."
"We want to say that even in the midst of the drought, we're resilient and we'll keep going with our unique race."
However, this year, the water levels proved so low, even the waterslide had to be cancelled. In its place, a rock-climbing wall, bouncy castle and other fair-rides were installed on the banks of the Murrumbidgee.
This year's races included a specific corporate event, with 60 of the city's most prominent businesses sponsoring a duck on the water.
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Breaking from the traditional homage to its pigeon-language origins, this year's 'gumis' were not all rubber. The corporate ducks, unlike the yellow rubber ducks used in the community races, were hollow plastic instead.
Unlike the generic rubber ducks used in the community races though, the corporate teams were encouraged to decorate their entry. Though, the teams attempted to modify their ducks did not fare any better on the water.
In the final corporate challenge, Easdowns Accountant and Advisers floated to victory.
During the afternoon's final community races, up to 2500 yellow ducks made the journey to the finish line in pursuit of the $1500 cash prize.
With the knowledge of hindsight at their fingertips this year, the Apex Club managed to navigate around some of the unforeseen problems of last year's races.
In place of a soft finish line, this year, a hard barrier was set up at the end.
"Last year it was a bit of a scramble to get them out of the water," Mr Sheather said.
"This year [there was] 2500 of them, so we needed to get them out quickly.
"The corporate ducks are a bit bigger and there's [fewer] of them, so that was easier. This year, it [was] still all members on deck to catch the yellow ones."