It's dead, Jim 
Posted on 01/18/2006 9:34:09 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
IT'S been dubbed one of Australia's strangest sporting events.
Take a dead fish, grip firmly by the tail and fling it as far as possible using any technique you choose. Port Lincoln's annual tuna toss will take place again this weekend with competitors expected from across the country and even overseas vying for $7000 in prize money.
Most enter just for fun and manage to only launch the 10kg frozen fish a handful of metres.
But in the professional division, reserved for those with a background in the hammer throw, javelin or shot put, things are far more serious with a toss over 30 metres generally required to take the title.
The record is held by former Olympic hammer thrower Sean Carlin who tossed the tuna 37.23 metres in 1998.
Commonwealth Games hammer thrower Brooke Krueger, while failing to match Carlin's mark, has won the event three years in a row.
This year organisers have added another event to the program with a 3kg kingfish toss for children aged 11 to 15.
The fish tossing is all part of Port Lincoln's Tunarama Festival, which showcases the area's tuna industry and is celebrating its 45th year.
Festival coordinator Megan Schoder said the event appealed to both locals and visitors because it was just something different.
"It's just such a bizarre event that it attracts attention from everyone," she said.
"We get tourists who go in for a bit of fun and then we have locals who take it seriously and enter every year for a chance to win the cash."
To cater for this year's toss, organisers have hand picked tuna during the year according to weight and size.
About $10,000 worth of the fish is needed to cater for the expected 75 entrants.
If you supply the air fare I'll volunteer.
7 Grand will more than pay for an airfare...:)
I bet PETA will be all over this soon.
They'd be more than welcome to join in, but I'm just not sure about their fish-throwing skills...
They'll probably be trying to give the fish mouth to mouth or something LOL
It's dead, Jim
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