Barber-ous Solution

In the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics, Mal Castledine of the Riverside Ramblers Barbershop Chorus was disturbed by reports that weeds were choking the rowing course at Penrith Lakes.

Sometimes when you're looking for solutions you have to step outside the circle.

Forget about marine biologists, forget about concerned conservationists—either group might come up with long-term answers but Mal pointed out that we needed a quick fix.

He wanted to equip a hundred barbers with scuba gear and scissors and send them snipping along the course.

There's no group better equipped to give the Lakes a short back and sides.

The barbers would trim exactly the width of the course leaving the rest untouched. Then competitors who strayed off line would incur a natural penalty as the weed slows them down.

It meant that the Olympic rowing at Penrith would become a benchmark for accuracy as well as speed.

Nor would there be any waste. The trimmed weed could be piled up between the finishing line and the shore so that competitors could walk across the water to the podium.