JOAN Morison is a sporting marvel.
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Just like a rolling ball, the fit Oyster Bay woman keeps on going, despite topping the 80-year mark recently.
At an age where most grandmothers are happy to be able to keep walking, Joan keeps paddling — and paddling, and paddling.
She has clocked up more than 5000 kilometres in various events, extending to her 26th paddle in the recent annual 111 kilometre Hawkesbury Canoe Classic — an overnight race from Windsor to Brooklyn.
"I used to paddle with my husband Bruce, before his knees went bad, so I took an eight-year break from it," said Joan before Sunday's paddle with friends from her Sutherland Shire Canoe Club at Woronora.
It is understandable, simply because they've been married for 61 years (they met on a bushwalk when Joan was only 16), and Joan has been paddling since then.
Her love of the sport continued, and this year she found a new canoe partner in Pymble's Richard Barnes.
Together they trained for the latest big race, and completed it in 12 hours, 6 minutes — ahead of time — finishing 12th out more than 100 double kayakers.
"It was a bit hair-raising, and a lot faster than when I first went down," she said.
"We had to stop three times to change clothes. At times we had waves going over the top of our heads."
Joan remembers how tough it was in the early years for women trying to enter the sport.
"Women were even warned they wouldn't be able to have children," she said.
But in 1952 Joan became the first of three women to paddle 100 miles (160 kilometres), going on to complete 10 Murray River marathons.
Now, she is happy to be healthy and inspiring other women in the sport. "It does help to keep your bones strong," she said.
Husband Bruce, 85, reckons she is actually getting stronger: "You should see her skipping out the back every night," he said.
The Classic has raised more than $200,000 for the Bone Marrow Research Institute.
Do you know of any older sporting heroes who are defying time?
