Friday, February 8, 2013

Tuna Toss




A few decades ago fishermen threw their Tuna from the hold of the boat to the dock and from the dock to their trucks. Somehow this transformed into a sport. This is Australia….
Basically you throw a 10 kg Tuna (22Lbs) as far as you can.
10 kg is the weight of a full household plastic bucket.
Of course the Tuna is made of rubber these days, but weighted exactly to 10kg.
You may doubt me but I can assure you that this is a serious event, this year Australia's national ABC TV sent a crew to film the event and there was a TV crew there from Japan also. 
The Japanese have a strong affiliation with the iconic Tuna and they always send a TV crew to cover this event. This year there was even an official Japanese team for the Womans Tuna Toss and competitors from all across the world.
Your average woman throws up to 5 metres, your average man can throw up to 7 or 8 metres, sportsmen throw close to 20 metres and the Australian record is 37 metres. (thrown by our then Australian Olympic Hammer thrower)
Every year there are those who fall over or muff their throw and you can see their embarrassment as they skulk away. 



*This young woman is Australia's current champion female Hammer thrower and threw further than all but three men, she threw close to 20 metres and won the womans division. Check out the muscles on her…












*Her boyfriend is this young man, the current mens Champion Hammer thrower who threw 32 metres.
 


































*If you are thinking this female judge (in the red shirt) is a little stout you would be right, for some reason the male judges all wear female wigs… 
look! I'm Australian and even I don’t get this one…



















...and it landed here, just in front of me.
















* This is the pitch without using camera zoom, it shows just how far it is from the throwing point at the high centre netting 45 metres to the water line just one step behind me. The red flag shows last years best throw.






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7 comments:

Belle said...

My image of Australia is one of a bunch of fun people enjoying life. My sister was a Marine and competed in war games in your country. She loved the country and the people.

This looks like lots of fun to watch and if we had this event in our city, I would be there.

Tempo said...

Hi Belle, of course we have our share of drunks, troublemakers and wingers too but all in all Australia has to be one of the very best places on our Earth. I travelled 400km to be there but as always there was no room at the Inn so I stayed 80km away in another town and travelled back and fourth each day..it was worth it.

Joe Pereira said...

I love the Aussie culture, their traditions and the mega continent they live on. Would love to visit someday, but it's so damn far!

Tempo said...

Hi Joe, especially from England... Most Aussies holiday in Asia or New Zealand because of the travel problems. There are many cities across the world that have more people than the whole of our country. Last count I think we had a few more than 16 million spread across the whole country so there are still deserted beaches you can have entirely to yourself..

Jen said...

Wow. That is some throw. I'm impressed.

Pearl said...

Well, why not. We run on logs floating on the water, so why not toss a fish or two?

Pearl

Tempo said...

Hi Jen, I'm tempted to see just how far I can throw 10kg. I'll bet it's nowhere near as far as I think I can throw..
Hey Pearl, Now theres a sight I'd pay money to see.. Pearl, regal in her office attire, running on a floating log..