Ian Player misses event start
|Published
Dr Ian Player with the Dusi Canoe Marathon's original trophy that he won in 1952. He was reunited with the trophy last month. Picture: DAVE MACLEOD/GAMEPLAN MEDIA Dr Ian Player with the Dusi Canoe Marathon's original trophy that he won in 1952. He was reunited with the trophy last month. Picture: DAVE MACLEOD/GAMEPLAN MEDIA
Durban - A long-time feature at the start of the Dusi Canoe Marathon – its legendary founder, Dr Ian Player – was not there when the iconic race got under way on Thursday.
Ill health forced Player, 86, to miss the start, “for the first time in a while”, but he told the Daily News he might be at the finish.
Player pioneered the first official Dusi that started in Pietermaritzburg at the end of 1951 and ended six days later at the beginning of 1952.
He was also the first winner of the race and won it three times in a row.
Player is synonymous with the Dusi and had regularly attended the start and finish of the race.
But, according to the Dusi Canoe Marathon, he would still be following developments over the three days of the event.
Dusi general manager, Brett Austen-Smith, said the entire Dusi family would be thinking of Player on Thursday.
“While we enjoyed having him at the start and finish of the race in recent years, his absence will be felt and one can be assured that every paddler preparing for the race sends their very best wishes to Dr Player,” Austen-Smith wrote on the Dusi website.
Speaking to the Daily News at his Karkloof home on Wednesday, Player said he would be turning 87 next month and his ageing body had prevented him from going to the start of the race.
“It’s difficult and it’s starting to be not easy to get around with the old injuries in the days when catching rhinos,” he said with a chuckle.
Player co-established The WILD Foundation in 1974 to try to save white rhinos and he is one of the founders of the then Natal Parks Board.
Player wished all the paddlers a good race, but said they should know that the Dusi was not just about canoe racing.
“The importance of the race is (that it) makes people appreciate the value of rivers. It is more than just a race.
“They learn about the environment, the importance of rivers and not to pollute the water,” said the renowned conservationist.
“It is a race of great companionship and goes through some of the most important places of KZN and gives them an opportunity to appreciate our country,” Player said.
He said he was happy with the way the race had changed from what it used to be during his time.
“It’s good that women are now participating. There are people who train in dams and those young Zulu paddlers there are pleasing me very much,” he said.
Last month, Player was reunited with the original trophy of the race that he won in 1952, four decades after it had gone missing in 1972. The Dusi committee had subsequently purchased a new one to present to winners.
According to the Dusi website, the trophy was discovered in a dark corner of a storeroom during the recent move to the refurbished race offices at Natal Canoe Club’s home at Camps Drift.
Player said he would like the old trophy to continue to be awarded to race winners.
“It brought back all the memories of different people who won the race like (Graeme) Pope-Ellis. It was very important because it contained history,” said Player.
The Dusi committee said on Wednesday it had yet to decide on what to do with the trophy.
The committee said it was considering offering it to Wendy Pope-Ellis, widow of the late “Dusi King”, Graeme, who won the race 15 times.