There were plenty of unique teams and pairings at the Massive Murray Paddle, which stopped off in Moama on Wednesday.

One of the more notable crews was the Dungulayin Mileka squad of boats, a team-up between Indigenous youth and Victoria Police.

Dungulayin Mileka, which translates as ‘to the river, from the river’ has been participating in the Massive Murray Paddle, formerly the Murray Marathon, for over 20 years.

It was an impressive showing for the team, with one of its boats taking out line honours on day three, the first craft into Moama Beach on Wednesday.

“It's about team development for us,” team co-ordinator Tony Lovett said.

“Aboriginal young people getting to know Victoria Police members, and police members getting to know the young people.

“This year we set a target of putting in a boat that was going to be super competitive, not just about team building but about setting goals of achieving some line honours and so on day three our teams came to the fore.

“They’ve just been really good and got through with everyone working hard.

“Each leg was crewed by an adult and an Aboriginal young person.”

Dungulayin Mileka includes youth and police representatives from across Victoria, paddling the Murray proving a unique experience for the more far-flung youths.

“One of the beauties of our program is that most of the young people in particular have never sat in the kayak, let alone paddled the Murray River,” Lovett said.

“For them to jump in the boat and start paddling is an achievement in itself.

“Whether it’s 12km or 24km, it’s just a real achievement for them, and it helps them believe in themselves.

“You get the support of police officers and community members encouraging them to continually keep pushing and keep working and seeing that they can get goals when they work together.”

Teams in the Massive Murray Paddle raise money for the charity or cause of their choice — Dungulayin Mileka contributing $5000 to the overall raised total of $75,042.

Overall, the event has raised over $1 million since 2016.

Dungulayin Mileka has a matching program featuring NSW Police, Marrang Tyema, which also competed in this year’s Massive Murray Paddle.

Echuca College was also a notable entrant in the Wednesday leg, assisted by the event organisers to get a craft entered for a single day, potentially drumming up interest in a full run next year.

Several of the Echuca College students continued into days four and five with their respective squads.

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Wednesday, 13th March 2024

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