Berri’s Graham Elleway keeps his river ritual despite rising Murray

Graham Elleway has been swimming in the Murray for a long time and has seen many of the biggest floods on record.

Rising River Murray floodwater has put the Riverland on high alert – but it has not been enough to stop Graham Elleway from carrying out a beloved ritual.

Each day, the 67-year-old visits the foreshore at Berri for a swim.

“I go to the gym, then to the river, jump in for a swim, then home for a shower,” he said.

“It’s become an addiction. I’ve got to go in every day.

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“I once went 12 months without missing a single day.”

Mr Elleway, whose routine has captured the interest of locals and tourists alike, has been gauging the rising water levels by standing on submerged footpath along the riverbank.

On Tuesday, the water was at his shoulders – and will continue to rise.

But Mr Elleway said he was undeterred by the cold temperatures, high levels, and the debris and objects underneath the surface.

Berri local Graham Elleway, 67. Picture: Emma Brasier

“It’s getting a bit grubby and a bit dark in there,” he said.

“I used to jump (to the river) in the middle of winter and it would take my breath away with the cold, but it doesn’t affect me now, it doesn’t worry me at all.”

The former manufacturing worker has lived in Berri his entire life, except for a two-year stint in Melbourne.

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The highest he has ever seen the river come was during the flood of 1974, and he was a one-year-old for the floods of 1956.

“It won’t get that high this year. It’s got a long way to go,” he said.

Mr Elleway lives nearby the river but was not concerned about his house flooding.

“I’m up too high,” he said.