Missing for more than four decades, the original Player Family Trophy presented to the winner of the Dusi Canoe Marathon has been found and reunited with its inaugural winner, Dr Ian Player.
Story and photos: Dave Macleod/Gameplan Media
The 86 year old environmentalist and founder of the Dusi Canoe Marathon was delighted to be reacquainted with the trophy, which was presented to the race by his father and his famous golfing brother Gary Player in 1953.
The trophy mysteriously disappeared in 1972, after which the race committee purchased a new trophy which has been awarded every year since.
The original trophy was discovered in a dark corner of a storeroom during the recent move into the refurbished race offices at Natal Canoe Club’s home at Camps Drift.
“This is a wonderful occasion,” said Dr Ian Player when he was handed the trophy at his Karkloof home this week. “There is so much history wrapped up in this trophy, and so many great personalities.”
Player Family Trophy to its first winner Dr Ian Player.
Dr Ian Player and his partner, Fred Schmidt, shared the title with Ernie Pearce and Bob Templeton back in 1954 – an inscription on the trophy that Player thoroughly enjoyed reading.
“That was a fantastic race!” he recalls. “Two youngsters (Peter Marriott and John Lange) were actually leading as we came out of the Kloof Gorge, but they had a mishap, and that left our two teams going into Blue Lagoon.”
“It had been so close throughout the race that we decided it was appropriate that we finish together and share the trophy. That, in essence is what the Dusi is all about.”
The race committee will have the original trophy cleaned and then inscribed with the names of all the winners since its disappearance in 1972.
The Dusi Canoe Marathon 2014 starts in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday 13 February and ends in Durban on Saturday 15 February.
For more information visit www.dusi.co.za.