Australia is a popular spot for water sports. Thousands of people flock to the beaches all year round and brave the waves to enjoy windsurfing,swimming and surfing.
Scuba divers can be spotted virtually on every beach, depending on their skills and experience.
Parasailing, a result of a marriage of two other popular sports, waterskiing and parachuting, is a relatively new way to have fun on the water..
Jetskiers, a water version of the bikies, at times dangerous, perfect their skills both on the rivers and on the ocean.
Calm and 'lazy' rivers and harbours are heaven for waterskiers while the wilder ones provide the best possible conditions for whitewater rafting enthusiasts.
Thousands of mighty yachts proudly navigate the oceans and harbours.
Truly, Australians live by water and on water.
However, amongst these adventerous and glamorous sports there is one that doesn't attract international tourists, though it's a lifestyle choice for many young Australians, school and university students mostly. This sport is rowing. Rowing requires a lot of strength, skills and stamina. Every summer Australian rivers become flooded with boats pushed by crews of five, nine or by the effort of just one rower determined this year to take the prized cup or a golden oar.
The sport is rarely assossiated with adventure or danger but don't try to tell that to the rowers on the Paramatta river. There, it is both adventures and dangerous. The boats are known to be attacked by sharks that find their way from Sydney Harbour into the river. On a couple of occasions the boats were overlooked and 'attacked' by ferries with at least one recorded near miss.
Despite this multitude of sports, Australians have learned to share the resources available to them. The watersports exist together in relative harmony along the nation's beaches and waterways. The sportsmen have great esteem for other players as they all share a common bond with the water.