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Dried and cracked courts, marshy, mud-covered grounds and a piercing lingering odour greet Mildura's Lawn Tennis Club visitors after widespread flooding in north-west Victoria.
Key points:
- The Mildura AMT Pro Tour tournament will be held in Swan Hill due to flooding
- Mildura Racing Club will resume horse racing in April
- The town's lifesaving club has been keeping members' skills sharp at other locations
Sitting right next to the Murray River, the facility was inundated for about eight weeks as floodwaters climbed more than a metre up the walls of the club house.
Now a major clean-up job is needed to return the facility to its international competition standard.
Club president Aaron Wilkie said this year's AMT Pro Tour tournament, which brings in up to $10,000, has had to change locations.
"Normally this is our peak season for Saturday competition ... Swan Hill hosts [the tournament] the week after us so they're going to have it for two weeks now," he said
"There was a lot of fish and wildlife on the courts, but we spoke to Shepparton who were down for four weeks and they got up and running in a month, so hopefully we will be back in the next month or two."
Racing club hopes to keep full schedule
No horse racing events had been planned at the Mildura Racing Club until the end of April, with floodwaters still cutting off access to some sheds and parts of the racetrack.
Club manager Jarratt Farley said they were still planning to run their full year's worth of events including the field days in May.
"They use an area in the middle of the course that is currently underwater, and we don't know how long it will take to disappear because it can't drain anywhere," he said.
"The biggest concern is the layer of silt that has formed, so we have a comity of specialists arriving early next week to come up with the best outcome."
Lifesaving club continues training
Members of the Mildura Lifesaving Club have been unable to access the Murray River after their club house at Apex Park was flooded last year.
Despite this, club president Adrian Adam said they had been able to keep their skills sharp both on and off the water.
"Earlier in the year we provided water safety for the Cullulleraine Music Festival and we took a group down to Ocean Group to patrol with local members down on the beach," he said.
"We've also started extra courses for people who weren't quite ready for the next stage of life saving, because there is always a position for somebody whether it is working the radios, sailing to boats, or first aid."