"A Network of Rivers"
A co-operative project prepared and published by schools of
the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia
Graham Middleton was named the Upper Murray's "Citizen of the Year" at the Shire Council's Australia Day Ball last night.
Graham was presented with his award by the Shire President, Cr. Hank Boers, for his amazing effort of swimming the length of the Murray river and in the process, raising more than $100,000 for Kids 'N Cancer.
Graham's swim took more than 4 months to complete, with him spending up to 8 hours a day in the water and covering 2,366 kilometres. He was supported by the Rotary Club of Corryong throughout the swim, his family and friends, and by many people along the river.
He and Corinne Grant have recently retraced the "Mighty Murray Marathon" swim, interviewing people connected with the swim and gaining material for a book on the subject.
Swimming has always played a big part in Graham's life. He was a member of the Australian squad for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and a coach of the Corryong Swimming Club for many years.
He still swims competitively and showed impressive times in the Australian Master Championships last year. He swam the masters events in the 55 - 59 age bracket, gaining four firsts and a second. He also took part in the 5km swim, placing third.
Graham is the holder of three national records - the 50m butterfly, 50m breast stroke and the 100m breast stroke.
His time for the 100m breast stroke was on a par with that recorded in the 30 years age bracket.
During his Mighty Murray Marathon, Graham had plenty of time to think - not only about the commitment required to swim the Murray river - but to philosophise on many subjects. His main thoughts were about the crushing blow to the hopes and aspirations of our unemployed, especially our youth.
Graham himself tells of "inspiration, rights and responsibilities": -
"It must be hard for the unemployed, and for all of us, to find our trust in bureaucracy and government having the right answers when there seems to be little hope of improvement in the foreseeable future. What we need to find within ourselves as a nation, is inspiration."We also need to think about our rights and responsibilities. Inspiration is a prompting to creative action.
The time now is for all Australians to find inspiration within themselves in directions they may never have considered possible. We need to improve and work for our nation's recovery, not by being insular, but by considering the world as a whole. Let's not be knockers, let's be doers!
In recent years incentive within our nation has been decimated. Is incentive in the right area?
I challenge all Australians to accept their responsibilities, not only to this great nation, but within their families, their schools, their communities and by doing so, improve all our standards.
We also have a responsibility to our environment. My most knowledgeable subject in this area is the Murray river, a river which is still beautiful.
We must balance the use of nature with the protection of nature. As all river people now know, the river is a resource to be valued.
No doubt, a time passes, all renewable resources should be used and balanced with proper control.
Australia is one of the greatest places on earth, but to keep it great there must occur a universal change of attitude.
I ask you to accept the challenge to set your sights higher. I also challenge you to concentrate less on your rights and more on your responsibilities to your endeavours, to the environment and to your nation."
Graham sums up his feelings with the following verse:
"Far better it is to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure;
than to take rank with those poor spirits
who never enjoy much, nor suffer much
because they live in the grey twilight
that knows neither victory nor defeat."
The Upper Murray district was stunned to hear of the untimely death of Graham Middleton last Friday at Lakes Entrance.
Graham (60), popularly known as "Middi", was visiting the East Gippsland area in his role as a Commissioner of the Shire of Towong. He was accompanied on his visit by the other Commissioners, David Sexton and Rex Hunter.
It is believed that Graham suffered a massive heart attack in his motel room before breakfast. A post mortem was conducted on Monday to determine the cause of death.
Graham was known throughout Australia as the only man to have conquered the mighty Murray river when he swam from Bringenbrong to Mt Alexandrina (SA) in 1991, to raise over $150,000 for Kids 'N Cancer. In recognition of this enormous effort and his contribution to the community, Graham was named as the Upper Murray's Citizen of the Year in 1993.
Graham's swim took more than 4 months to complete, with him spending up to 8 hours a day in the water and covering 2,366 kilometres.
He was supported by the Rotary Club of Corryong throughout the swim, his family and friends, and by many people along the river. He and Corinne Grant, the daughter of close friend Don Grant, retraced the Mighty Murray Marathon swim, interviewing people connected with the swim and gaining material for a book which was published in 1994.
Swimming has always played a big part in Graham's life. He was a member of the Australian squad for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, narrowly missing final selection.
Graham came to Corryong in 1964 and purchased the Federal Motor Garage, which he re-named Middleton Motors. He ran a successful car dealership and garage; subsequently moving premises to the corner of Kiell and Hanson Streets in 1982, before selling to Boers Motors. He also conducted a school bus line in the area.
Graham's passion was swimming and he was a founding member and a coach of the Corryong Swimming Club for many years. He swam competitively, up until his appointment as a Shire Commissioner, and showed impressive times in the Australian Master Championships. In 1992 he swam the masters events in the 55 - 59 age bracket, gaining four firsts and a second. He also took part in the 5km swim, placing third. At that time, Graham was the holder of three national records - the 50m butterfly, 50m breast stroke and the 100m breast stroke. His time for the 100m breast stroke was on a par with that recorded in the 30 years age bracket.
During his Mighty Murray Marathon, Graham had plenty of time to think - not only about the commitment required to swim the Murray river - but to philosophise on many subjects. Graham had an genuine interest in our youth and their problems. Following his swim, Graham said that
"It must be hard for the unemployed, and for all of us, to find our trust in bureaucracy and government having the right answers when there seems to be little hope of improvement in the foreseeable future. What we need to find within ourselves as a nation, is inspiration."We also need to think about our rights and responsibilities. Inspiration is a prompting to creative action.
The time now is for all Australians to find inspiration within themselves in directions they may never have considered possible. We need to improve and work for our nation's recovery, not by being insular, but by considering the world as a whole. Let's not be knockers, let's be doers!
In recent years incentive within our nation has been decimated. Is incentive in the right area?
I challenge all Australians to accept their responsibilities, not only to this great nation, but within their families, their schools, their communities and by doing so, improve all our standards.
No doubt this was the catalyst behind Graham's move into local government as a Commissioner. He had a vision for the shire and was in no doubt that its future depended on eco-tourism. Up until last week he had been heavily involved in the Man From Snowy River Centenary Celebrations.
His other unerring commitment was to the Rotary organisation. He was a founding member of the Corryong Rotary Club, which was formed in 1967. He was in his second term as President at the time of his death, having been one of only two members to have served twice in that capacity. Graham represented the Club on many District Committees, was leader of a cultural education exchange that toured Sweden, and was the recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship for his services to the Rotary ideal.
His love of sport also extended to the football arena, and he was a past President of the Corryong Football Club.
In tribute to Graham, the Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Bill Baxter, said "the untimely death of Graham Middleton has robbed the Upper Murray of one of its greatest advocates." He said Graham was a "community leader par excellence."
Chief Commissioner, David Sexton, said that "Graham's commitment to the community over many years has been outstanding."
"Graham was a man of positive attitude and action, and will be sadly missed by his family, friends and colleagues," he said.
Graham adopted as his motto, and often quoted, the words of a poem given to him by English Channel swimmer, Suzie Maroney, prior to his Murray marathon:
"Far better it is to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure;
than to take rank with those poor spirits
who never enjoy much, nor suffer much
because they live in the grey twilight
that knows neither victory nor defeat."
Graham is survived by his wife Kay, sons Dean and Heath, and daughter Sally.
This page was researched and published by students of Corryong Secondary College as part of "A Network of Rivers". Many other schools and individuals have contributed to the project: if you would like to do so, contact the Project Co-ordinator.