Carter, Dicker and Green Life Members of Australian Canoeing

    On Saturday 4th November, 2017, Australian Canoeing held our 68th Annual General Meeting at Mantra Legends, 25 Laycock Street, Surfers Paradise. At the meeting Mr Peter Cater (SA), Mr Jason Dicker (TAS) and Mr Dennis Green (NSW) were all voted in as life members of Australian Canoeing.

    Mr Peter Carter

    Peter has an extensive history in Australian paddling that dates back to 1972, and continues to the present day.

    During this entire period Peter has maintained an active and invaluable tenure with the sport. His contributions and service cover all areas, but at the national level his dedication to education and training, and safety regulations, is where Peter has really excelled.

    Peter served on the AC Education & Safety Technical Committee for many years. His dedicated and long serving commitment included editing and maintaining the National Instructor Manual, Award Scheme Handbook, and resource materials for the revised ACAS

    Peter joined the then SA Canoeing Association in 1972. In 1974 Peter was elected Secretary of the Association, a position he held for 11 years, and was also President for a term in 1987. It was during this period that he became a Life Member of the association.

    He was active in the SACA Training Committee, predecessor of the Education and Safety Technical Committee (ESTC), of which he is still a member.

    Peter qualified as an Instructor in the SACA scheme, transferring to the ACF scheme when it was formed in 1976. He eventually became a Senior Sea Instructor (assessed in NSW) and is currently a Sea Instructor and Flatwater Instructor (Canoe). He has spent many hours instructing and assessing for Canoe SA and other organisations.

    In 1982 he served a term as Secretary of the ACF Board of Canoe Education, and took up the position again from 1993, editing and maintaining the National Instructor Manual, Award Scheme Handbook, and with the revised ACAS, the resource materials. It is only recently that he retired from the AC ESTC.

    In the late 1970s and early 1980s period he paddled Sprint (K1) and Slalom (K1 and C1) with some success, and was a member of the Slalom organising committee. At the time, he was qualified as Sprint and Slalom official. He also helped set up the original SA Canoe Polo seasons and played occasionally. More recently, during the 2012–13 Sprint season, he drove rescue boats at local regattas.

    With an interest in boats and equipment, Peter developed the Platypus BAT in the 1970s, and it was used in training courses of the period and also in the initial Polo seasons. In the 1980s he developed the Voyager sea kayak, a craft with a number of innovative features.

    Peter’s main interest has been in sea kayaking, and he was involved in a number of significant early expeditions in this state, including a Kangaroo Island circumnavigation and Port Lincoln to Adelaide crossing.

    After being secretary of Investigator Canoe Club for many years, he transferred to Adelaide Canoe Club when ICC was wound up, and became its secretary. For some years Peter was a member of the Canoe SA Board, and represented Canoe SA on bodies such as the SA Trails Coordinating Committee. He served another term as Canoe SA President in 2015.

     

    Mr Jason Dicker

    Jason Dicker has an extensive history in Australian paddling that dates back to 1977, and continues until 2017 where he stepped down as from the Education Technical Committee.

    Here are just some of Jason’s achievements during his time in paddling:

    • 1977 – As a member of Tamar Canoe Club, with a number of paddling and leading in Tamar Canoe Club, became one of the first certified kayak instructors in Tasmania.
    • 1980 – Became a strong supporter and effective educator within the Tasmanian Board of Canoe Education. A strong proponent of Canoe Tasmania training weekends at Forth, Tasmania.
    • 1981 – Became a Tamar Canoe Club and Canoe Tasmania representative to Australian Canoeing. Taking on special roles on the Tasmanian Board of Canoe Education, specialising in the area of white water skills and instructor training.
    • 1983 – Elected as the Commodore of the Tamar Canoe Clun. Led the club in all things kayaking. Jason held this position for many years.
    • 1990 – Jason was elected Chairman of Canoe Tasmania, he went on to hold this position for many years and through changes with Australian Canoeing structural changes. Throughout the entire time Jason completed and took on his role with a cheerful and can-do attitude. During this year he was also elected to the AC Education and Safety technical committee. He has held this position for almost 30 years. The committee were the leaders in education and safety training for paddling and instructing. During his time of the Committee Jason moved from a general member to the Chairman which he held until his retirement in 2017.

    Jason contributed greatly in the development of many Australian Canoeing courses and training materials. Through his position as a teacher at Launceston College, he has introduced, encouraged, trained and mentored many local paddlers which have gone on to represent Tasmania, Australia and even some represented at the Olympics.

    Jason is a true asset to our paddling community.

     

    Mr Dennis Green OAM BEM

    Dennis has been involved in canoeing in Australia for over fifty years, and has some extraordinary achievements.

    The 1956 Melbourne Olympics was very memorable for the canoeing community as it was the first time Australia was represented in Canoe Sprint. Canoe Sprint was held on the Lake Wendouree course in Ballarat.

    November 30, marks an import day in the history of Australia’s achievements in canoeing with Australia winning our first Canoe Sprint medal with Dennis Green and Walter Brown’s efforts in the K1 10,000m event with Bronze.

    Dennis Green reflected on the Melbourne Olympic Games. “I hope you don’t come last, the team manager told us as we lined up to start the big race. The bronze medal was the most unanticipated medal won at Melbourne. We both proudly stood on the podium and as the Hungarian National anthem played for the Gold medallist I began to feel sick. What if we won Gold? The pommy National anthem would play… People wouldn’t know the Aussies got up, how is this fair?

    Denis also reminisced about most likely being the only person allowed to take a dog, his German Shepard called Bamby into the Olympic village. “I will probably be the one person ever who would have or even be allowed their dog in the village. At first they refused for me to have Bamby there but when I said if the dog leaves then so do I and you can stuff your Olympics. It was decided the dog can be a guard for the team manager. The dog finished the week looking like a jumbo jet cause every night at 8pm the kitchen would give Bamby the left over steaks.”

    Dennis Green went on to compete at five Olympic Games and was flag bearer in his last Games in Munich in 1972.

    In the open kayak events, Dennis Green won an astonishing 64 Australian championships (singles, pairs and fours), including 18 pairs events with Barry Stuart between 1955 and 1974. Representing the St George Club, he also won 79 New South Wales state titles.

    He retired at the age of 60 as the National Coaching and Competitions Director of Surf Life Saving and moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast to accept the position of QLD Regional Director of Coaching for Canoeing at the Queensland Academy of Sport. Disadvantaged as a young rookie in 1956 with no coach, Green is giving plenty back to his sport and using his vast experience and knowledge of canoeing to help coach young Olympic hopefuls as part of the AIS development program.

    Dennis was awarded/inducted:

    • 1979 into the New South Wales Hall of Champions.
    • 1977 was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM)
    • 1986 into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame
    • 2007 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2007 for his services to sport.

    He is heavily involved in junior development, and works with surf clubs to assist the transition of talented surf paddlers into even more talented kayak paddlers, including Luke Young, Dane Sloss and Jacob Clear.

    Currently, Dennis supports the men’s 1000m programme with motivational talks and morale support.

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