‘Only in Australia’: Viral footy field swimmer TikTok has a gross secret

A swimmer has gone viral for making the most of the wet weather in Queensland but an AFLW star has revealed an element that makes it disgusting.

If nothing else, Aussies make the best out of a bad situation.

Torrential rain has lashed the east coast of Australia over the past few days with flash flooding, evacuations and countless calls for SES volunteers.

Horribly, five people, including a State Emergency Service volunteer, have died in the floods and at least one person remains missing, The Guardian reported, as the state’s “horrific” floods are declared a “catastrophe”.

But it never stops people from making misguided at best — at worst, downright stupid — decisions.

TikTok user @archietremmers09 snapped a video of an enterprising person refusing to give up their morning walk around a local footy field in Maroochydore.

@archietremmers09

#fyp#floods#australia

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Captioning the video, “Only in Australia”, a swimmer does freestyle past a set of AFL goalposts in a sign of just how high the floodwaters had risen.

More than a months worth of rain had fallen with a reported 300mm falling overnight.

No wonder the world thinks we're weird. Photo: TikTok / archietremmers09

South East Queensland is said to be bracing for another 24 hours of wild weather, and a six-hourly rainfall of up to 300mm is possible overnight, The Courier Mail reports.

The video has had more than 1.2 million plays on TikTok.

Viewers did make jokes in the comments, including “When ur coach tells you to do a lap of the oval”, “What in the Queensland” and general shock at the scenes.

It also made it to Twitter where the Herald Sun’s Lauren Wood wrote: “Taking “a couple of 400s to start training” to a whole new level at what I think might be Maroochydore today”.

But Brisbane Lions AFLW player Jessica Wuetschner revealed that it might well be more gross than hilarious.

“.. next door is Sewerage processing place so probably not ideal swimming area,” she replied to Wood’s post.

Another Twitter user wrote: “Not just that…. all the stormwater, lawn chemicals and any septic systems if applicable … … you want to build your immune system? Swim! River water at best….”

The Insurance Council of Australia on Saturday evening declared Queensland’s ongoing flooding disaster a “catastrophe”, meaning insurance claims made by those in the region will be given top priority.

Wild scenes in Queensland. Picture, John Gass

The rainfall has been terrifying as river levels are rising rapidly as up to 400mm of rain fell overnight in some areas.

“Since many catchments are now saturated, and in combination with his rainfall, there is now going to be an increased risk of dangerous and life threatening flash flooding, and even the potential for localised landslides,” BOM said.

BOM warned while there are already numerous major flood warnings, the number and severity of them are only going to increase.

An emergency alert was issued by the QFES on Friday night, alerting residents across the Ipswich City Council area and the Sunshine Coast to prepare to leave.

Emergency alerts also remain current for the Sunshine Coast, the Scenic Rim, Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley, North Burnett, Moreton Bay, Maryborough and Gympie council areas.