For Joan Morison OAM, life held three passions – her beloved husband Bruce, her four children, and paddling.
Aside from time spent with her family, it’s probably fair to say Australia’s first lady of paddling was at her happiest out on the water and she certainly made her mark there.
Men and women involved in paddle sport today owe a huge debt of gratitude to Joan.
She and Bruce met on a bushwalk when Joan was 16 and they started paddling together immediately. They were married 64 years when Bruce died last December, aged 87.
The couple was involved in the sport for more than 65 years as pioneer competitors and administrators. They were founding members (and life members) of the peak national and state bodies for canoeing and were affiliated with state, Australian and International Olympic councils and the International Canoe Federation.
Both were talented paddlers and Joan was selected in the ‘‘train on’’ squad for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games but was barred when she fell pregnant. She missed the Games, despite having her child well before they started.
In an interview with former Leader sports editor Brad Forrest in 2012, Joan recalled how tough it was for women trying to enter the sport in the early years of marathon paddling.
But that didn’t stop Joan. In 1952 she became the first of three women to paddle 100 miles (160 kilometres) and went on to complete in dozens of marathons. She even timed the arrivals of children Wendy, Robert, Mark and Luke between important races.
As the sport evolved through the 60s and 70s, Joan and Bruce were at the cutting edge, playing a key role in all aspects of its development, including safety training.
Joan coached at the Australian Institute of Sport. From 1986-2003, the couple ran junior development camps and many of their students went on to win state, national, international and Olympic medals. The Morisons also were key officials at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney – Joan with slalom and Bruce with sprint.
In 1992, Joan was nominated for an Order of Australia medal for services to canoeing and kayaking. She was stunned, and Bruce often said it was the only time he had ever seen her lost for words.
Bruce received his OAM in 2009. At the time of her nomination, Joan did not know that he had also been nominated in 1992 but chose not to accept at that point, so as not to detract from her achievement. Earlier this year, the Morisons were honoured in the 20th Annual NSW Sports Federation Awards with a Distinguished Long Service Award, the first time it was awarded to a couple.
There have been a myriad of achievements along the way, whether it be ‘starring’ in time trials at Sutherland Shire Canoe Club, where Joan and Bruce were founding members, or a marathon.
Joan finally hung up her marathon paddle in 2012, after notching up 26 runs in the 111-kilometre Hawkesbury Canoe Classic from Windsor to Brooklyn. At 81, she was the first octogenarian to complete the race.
“That was an amazing achievement,” says Steve Dawson, president of the SSCC, which Joan and Bruce helped build from its humble start in 1972, to the successful club it is today.
“Joan was competing with Sydney University paddler Richard Barnes and his ranking meant that as a double they had to paddle against the top teams during the preparatory training races earlier in the year. The image of a silver-haired, great-grandmother lined up alongside some of the best paddlers in NSW turned a few heads.
“I was there when Joan arrived at Brooklyn after paddling 111km through the night. The crowd applauded as she and Richard came across the finish line. Bruce was waiting for her. He was so worried about her, out there in the dark. The love I saw between those two soul mates, reunited on the dock... I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who cried.”
Richard Barnes treasures his memories of working with Joan that year.
“Joan spent months preparing our race plan. She chose to steer and captain and set the pace in our TK2, and never missed a stroke. Throughout the night, she kept me and the craft around us entertained and awake with her limitless store of historical canoeing facts and acts.”
Mr Dawson describes Joan Morison as a truly great canoeist. He says he has met some of the best in the world and puts her among them, saying Joan’s passion for paddle sports was endless, and he’s immensely proud to have been one of her many students.
“She and Bruce taught my wife Kate and I to race a tandem canoe. They were probably the last tandem canoe racing team in NSW for us to learn from.
“After Bruce passed away, Joan would still give me tips about my stroke. Even though I’ve been paddling for 30 years she would call out little errors that only she would have spotted. I’m sure as soon as she passed, she told the ferryman to ‘sit up straight and put your back into it. Bruce is waiting for me’.”
Joan died on May 17 and her funeral was held at Woronora Cemetery on Monday.
Paddle NSW acknowledged the huge contribution she made to the sport in a tribute which ended: ‘‘We mourned the passing of Bruce in December last year and now his dear wife Joan joins him on the river once more’’.
May they both rest and paddle in peace.”