Hi ,

Twisting Winston Churchill's tribute to the pilots of the Battle of Britain, and referencing it to our discipline, we could say: "Never before in the history of our fantastic sport, has so much been owed by so many to one individual."

Now that individual has left us.

That beard, that hat, that subtle smile, those glinting eyes – never to be seen again.

It would be futile for me to even attempt to pen a deserving obituary. There are just not enough words to spell out what this fantastic human being meant to our sport.

Most of us do not know paddling without John Oliver sitting at the start and at the finish, of almost every major event we have ever participated in. Usually, until the very last paddler struggled across the line.

His compassionate and accommodating nature, and his quest to get as many people on the water as possible, often frustrated the hell out of us administrators.

His cheerful demeanor was not a permanent fixture however. There was a very distinct "tilt" function incorporated in the psyche.

He did not suffer fools lightly, and many have left his presence with a lot more than their tails between their legs.

It feels surreal to think that it was a mere three weeks ago that we were sitting under the gazebo with John and Lorna, at the SA Sprint Championships, laughing and joking. Little did we know then, that he would be timing his last race.

Farewell Hairy Face. We wish you well, wherever it is you are. Hopefully Margie is still able to make those biscuits.

You were much loved, and will be sorely missed.

As many of you may be aware, most of the clubs around the country are arranging a memorial paddle for John this Sunday. Please feel free to join, and to celebrate a remarkable individual who dedicated most of his life to being of service to us all. Participants have been asked to wear red. There is no particular significance to the colour chosen, merely an identification of unity. Or perhaps in sympathy for those who ended up on the wrong side of his tilt function.

His primary memorial service will be held at the Hills Wedding Estate, in Pietermaritzburg, next Sunday (April 21st), at 11am. All are welcome. No specific colour scheme for this one.

Just don't make John cringe by wearing black.

Other "happenings" in our sport pale into insignificance after the tragedy of last week, but need to be shared.

The SA Sprint Championships (and SA Schools Championships) were held over the weekend of the 22-24 of March at the Victoria Lake Club, in Germiston.

The majority of the event was held under superb weather conditions.

The event doubled as a selection for no less than five separate national teams.

The most significant being the selection of the four individuals who will be representing us at the Olympic Games in Paris in August.

The format of the selection was a simple 500m K2 race for both men and women. If the winning boat finished more than 1.5% ahead of the second boat, that crew would achieve automatic selection.

If they did not win by more than 1.5%, then all boats that did finish within the percentage, would be given a second opportunity in a three-race shootout.

There were some very interesting combinations on the start line of the men's race. Chrisjan Coetzee and Nick Weeks, who had qualified the spot for South Africa in the first place, Hank McGregor with Uli Hart; Shaun Rubenstein and Mike Arthur and the marathon champions Andy Birkett and Hamish Lovemore. My pre-race prediction of a comfortable win by the Coetzee/Weeks crew were thrown to the wind, as the long distance proponents of Birkett and Lovemore won in convincing style, holding off the veteran pairing of Ruby and Mike by more than the required 1.5% to achieve automatic qualification.

The women's race proved to be a far more nail-biting affair. Esti Olivier and Tiffany Koch managed to win the first race, but did not manage to gain the required gap from a late charging Bridgitte Hartley and former world surfski champ, Michelle Burn. This forced them into a second race on the Saturday, which Michelle and Bridgitte won. The two crews then lined up on the Sunday for a winner-takes-all battle. Esti, eventually securing a trip to the Olympics, with Tiffany booking a seat to her second Games.

The sprint committee, this year, introduced some fairly stringent qualifying criteria for selection into the remaining teams, and the size of the teams bears testament to this.

The national teams to the senior world championships, and the junior/U23 championships, consist of only two paddlers in each, with Kyle Friedenstein and Tiffany representing the seniors, and Jordan Klopper and Alexa Godden representing the junior/U23.

There is a fairly sizeable team going to the world cup in Szeged and the Olympic Hopes team is still being finalised.

What is blatantly evident is that the opening of the continental quota spot, and the resultant access to Olympic participation, has been an injection in enthusiasm for the discipline of sprinting.

A massive thanks to the organisers for an extremely difficult job well done.

I arrived back from an ICF board meeting in London earlier this week, where it was confirmed that South Africa (Durban), had been granted the rights to host the ICF World Ocean Racing Championships in 2025.

Hopefully, this will result in a massive upswing in interest in the discipline by our local paddlers. We need participation in all age groups, including the masters (both men and women), in order to win the "Friendship Cup", as the best surfski paddling nation in the world.

So, if you have a wife or girlfriend (even ex-wife or ex-girlfriend) who has an even remote aptitude for the sport, now is the time to galvanize them into action.

The SA Champs this year, in July, will be held on the same course that is going to be used for the World Championships, so start making plans.

In an attempt at some "cross discipline" encouragement, the South African Waveski Surfing Association has offered a discount to all CSA registered members for an annual membership. For a mere R600 you will be allowed to enter all of their events. You can register online on the CSA website.

The next highlight on the CSA calendar is the Freedom Paddle, which is due to be held on the 27th of this month. This epic event gives paddlers an opportunity to paddle around Robben Island on Freedom Day.

Hopefully, the notorious Cape weather does not bare its teeth (as it did in the past week), and that all entrants get an opportunity to complete one of the most picturesque surf ski races on the planet.

Until next time ...

Your SG
Copper

Out of respect for our hairy friend, we will dispense with the joke.