Logo. Phil Coles played an important role in Australia's Olympic history, first as an athlete and later as an administrator.

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2 Helen Brownlee has been devoted to canoeing for more than 50 years as a compe;tor, judge and administrator. Helen started in compe;;ve canoeing as a teenager under the guidance of her father Os Brownlee, who was one of the founding members of Australian Canoeing. Her paddling took her from river touring to sprint compe;;on and to slalom and wildwater disciplines. She won medals at state, na;onal and interna;onal events, including Australia's first interna;onal slalom medal. Helen was a judge at the 1972 Munich and 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and a member of the compe;;on jury at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. A groundbreaker for women in sports administra;on, she worked her way up to become President of the Australian Canoe Federa;on, a posi;on she held for 14 years, and was given Life Membership. Helen is a Director of the Interna;onal Canoe Federa;on, President of the Commonwealth Canoe Federa;on and the Oceania Canoe Federa;on, Chair of the Oceania Na;onal Olympic CommiUee's Women and Sport Commission. Helen is the first woman to be awarded Life Membership of the Australian Olympic CommiUee. She is also the first woman elected to the Australian Olympic CommiUee execu;ve board and in 2013 became the Vice President. Helen is also the President of the NSW Olympic Council, a posi;on she has held since Shortly before being inducted into The Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2015 Helen was awarded the Olympic Order for her significant contribu;on to world sport and her dedica;on to upholding the Olympic ideals. It was presented to her by the President of the Interna;onal Olympic CommiUee, Thomas Bach, during the Oceania Na;onal Olympic CommiUee's general assembly in Fiji. Helen has been honoured by the Interna;onal Olympic CommiUee for her work in educa;on and invited to become a member of the IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Educa;on. A strong advocate for the involvement of more women in sport, in 2002 she was awarded the IOC Women and Sport Trophy of Oceania in recogni;on of her outstanding contribu;on to the promo;on of women in sport. In 1985, Helen was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for services to the sport of canoeing and 2010 was inducted into the Interna;onal Whitewater Hall of Fame. In 2015, Helen was then inducted in the Australian Sports Hall of Fame. Given the opportunity to develop programs and ini;a;ves for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she earned the Interna;onal Fair Play Trophy on behalf of the teachers and students of NSW for their "unreserved support" of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the spirit of solidarity, tolerance and fair play.

3 Os Brownlee was one of Australian Canoeing s founding fathers. Os was the inaugural Vice- President holding the role from He then became President of the Australian Canoe Federa;on from ; during this ;me Australian Canoe Federa;on cons;tu;on only allowed one person to be President for two years. Once comple;ng his role as President, Os become Vice- President again from and then again ; Os was on the Board of Australian Canoeing for a total of 29 years! Os was also a founding member of the NSW Canoe Associa;on in 1949 (PaddleNSW) and an execu;ve member of the associa;on for many years. Os made great contribu;ons to River Canoe Club, NSW Canoe Associa;on and Australian Canoe Federa;on which included his work and ini;a;on of Canoe Slalom through the 1960 s and 1970 s. For Os years of service he has been awarded life membership at River Canoe Club in 1966, NSW Canoe Associa;on in 1962 and Australian Canoe Federa;on in Even though Os held many roles at all levels of associa;ons throughout the Australian Canoe Federa;on, he was a dedicated official at Australian Canoe Sprint Championships and then moved to Slalom in During the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Os was the ICF Line Judge Official; he was the official made the results official when Dennis Green and Walter Brown won Australia s first canoeing Olympic medal. Os was recognised as the doyen of canoeing, as his interest and ac;ve involvement spanned some 60 years. His commitment to the canoeing family encompassed building canoes (;mber and fibreglass), organising and enjoying numerous river trips, compe;ng in Club, State and Na;onal Sprint Championships (K1,K2,C1,C2), working to construct a new clubhouse, instruc;ng new paddlers, reviewing cons;tu;ons (Club, State & Na;onal) and counselling elite athletes - in addi;on to his honorary administra;ve posi;ons. At the na;onal level, Os was a vocal advocate for reducing state based vo;ng and bias to achieve a unified na;onal model unfortunately, not achieved in his life;me.

4 Ross Chenoweth was one of Australian Canoe Federa;on founding fathers. In 1947, Ross proposed to the State s for the forma;on of a canoe federa;on in Australia. From this proposal, on 10 th September, 1949 the Australian Canoe Federa;on was established. From Ross was the inaugural Hon Secretary and Treasurer, he con;nuously held this posi;on for 15 years! During the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, Ross was the Compe;;on Secretary and became a member of the Olympic Council that same year. Ross con;nued his work at the Olympics as Sec;on Manager for Canoeing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Ross con;nued his involvement in events and officia;ng and for many years was the Compe;;on Secretary for Australian Canoe Championships. Ross was the co- founder of the Victorian Amateur Canoe Associa;on (VACA) which is now known as Canoeing Victoria. He then went on in 1956, to be founder of Ivanhoe Northcote Canoe Club where he held the posi;on of secretary for over 25 years. For Ross years of service he has been awarded life membership at Ivanhoe Northcote Canoe Club, Victorian Amateur Canoe Associa;on and Australian Canoe Federa;on in 1971.

5 Phil Coles played an important role in Australia's Olympic history, first as an athlete and later as an administrator. Phil competed in Canoe Sprint at the 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. He was team captain at two Games and went on to become the canoe/kayak sec;on manager at the 1972 Munich Olympics and Chef de Mission at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Phil has been a member of the Execu;ve Board of the Australian Olympic CommiUee since 1973, being Secretary General from 1985 to 1993 and then Director of Interna;onal Rela;ons from 1993 to He was a member of the Board of the Sydney Olympics 2000 Bid Limited and was Vice President and Director of the Sydney Organising CommiUee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) from 1993 to Phil was a member of the Interna;onal Olympic CommiUee from 1982 to 2011 and became an honorary member from Phil is a founda;on member and member of the Execu;ve Board of the Oceania Na;onal Olympic CommiUee since 1981 and was a board member of the Australian Sports Drug Agency from 1996 to He has also been a Board member of the Australian Sports Commission from 1984 to 1987 and from 1989 to Phil has also been Chairman of the New South Wales Ins;tute of Sport from 1995 and was the Honorary Secretary for the NSW Olympic Council from 1973 to In 1981, Phil was awarded with life membership of the Australian Canoe Federa;on. In 1983, Phil was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to sport.

6 While rarely a compe;tor except at private or club level Garry, nicknamed for then obvious reasons Stringbean, was first a recrea;onal paddler. He became officially involved with canoeing when at 19 he was elected as the inaugural Secretary of the Indooroopilly Canoe Club, on 5th July 1957 and he con;nued to be a volunteer administrator at club, state and na;onal levels un;l the 1990s. The Queensland Amateur Canoe Federa;on (QACF) was established in 1962, now known as Queensland Canoeing. It was a kitchen table commiuee with Garry Gardner as President, Bernard Draney as Vice President and Sallyanne Vidgen as Secretary/Treasurer. From then on canoe clubs spread state wide. Formali;es had to be observed and the QACF became affiliated with the Australian Canoe Federa;on and the Queensland Olympic Council. Queensland Canoeing is now an organisa;on with a dedicated office and paid staff. Since the 1950s sport in general has expanded and Queensland paddlers have represented in Canoe Polo, Marathon, Paracanoe, Sprint and Whitewater at Na;onals as well as World Championships, World Cups, Paralympics and Olympics. Garry during the intervening years between 1957 and his death in 2001 con;nued to support his sport. His accomplishments have been chronicled and his efforts in canoeing and the Olympic movement were rewarded by the presenta;on of an OAM in At one stage when he was simultaneously Commodore of Indooroopilly Canoe Club, President of Queensland Canoeing and President of Australian Canoeing, a father of a well known successful interna;onal paddler referred to him as the godfather of Australian Canoeing! Before the Montreal Olympics he coached a rebel K4 crew which defeated the long standing top team at the na;onal trials and was selected for 1976 Olympics. An aspect of the winter training regime, he had erected a plank with 2 kayak seats and footrests across his home pool.

7 An Olympic bronze medallist, Dennis Green was the first of a select band of athletes who can claim the honour of represen;ng their country at five Olympic Games; 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City, and 1972 Munich. Dennis was selected as the Australian flag bearer in the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 1956, he paddled with his Maroubra teammate Wally Brown in the K2 10,000m. They were uncoached and remarkably, they had never raced another crew prior to the Melbourne Games. They had completed ;me trials and their opposi;on was well aware of their tremendous speed. With one lap to go the Australians hit the lead but on the final lap the crews were required to race in their designated lane and the inexperienced Australians didn't realise they would lose four lengths moving across to their lane. They never got back to the led but managed to finish third, winning the first Olympic medal by a non European na;on in the Kayak event, as well as Australia s first canoeing Olympic medal. In the open kayak events, Dennis won an astonishing 64 Australian Championships (singles, pairs and fours), including 18 pairs events with Barry Stuart between 1955 and Represen;ng the St George Club, he also won 79 New South Wales state ;tles. At the age of 60 Dennis re;red as the Na;onal Coaching and Compe;;ons Director of Surf Life Saving and moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast to accept the posi;on of QLD Regional Director of Coaching for Canoeing at the Queensland Academy of Sport. Disadvantaged as a young rookie in 1956 with no coach, Dennis has given 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. He has con;nued to compete in Masters events, winning a total of 57 World Masters Gold medals to date and has competed in all Australian Masters Games winning 75 Gold medals. Dennis was inducted into the New South Wales Hall of Champions in He was awarded the Bri;sh Empire Medal (BEM) in 1977 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2007 for his services to sport. Dennis was also inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

8 Graham Johnson represented Australia at the 1972 Munich Olympics with his K2 partner Adrian Powell. They competed in the K2 1000m event. Arer re;rement from compe;;on paddling, Graham became Australian Canoe Federa;on s President from In 1985, Graham organised and was able to execute the inaugural Na;onal Australian Canoe Federa;on Conference which was held in Canberra. This mee;ng allowed all State Member Associa;ons to come together and discuss mauers rela;ng to their State and paddling. For Graham s years of service he has been awarded life membership at Australian Canoe Federa;on in Graham started discussions with the Australian Sports Commission for canoeing to be accepted as a full- ;me AIS sport. These discussion led to the AIS Canoe Unit facility to opened on 21 st April, 1989 on the Gold Coast.

9 Joan s life- long commitment to canoeing began in the late 1940 s when Joan joined Bruce Morison to convene a mee;ng that established the Youth Hostels Associa;on Canoe Club. The club provided the opportunity for YHA members to experience canoeing up to In fact, they actually conducted the first NSW Canoe Championships under the auspices of the NSW Canoe Associa;on. Joan s involvement with canoeing crossed all disciplines and facets of the sport at local, state and na;onal levels. With a background of club and state canoeing administra;on, Joan was elected to the honorary posi;on of Secretary- General of the Australian Canoe Federa;on in Her vision and enthusiasm for canoeing consolidated the establishment of the first na;onal office in 1986 and her subsequent appointment as the Na;onal Execu;ve Director. Joan worked ;relessly to establish a sound financial base and efficient management procedures, which moved the organisa;on of canoeing from the kitchen table to a respected spor;ng administra;on. This was a period of extensive growth for canoeing and the result at interna;onal level confirmed the credibility of the organisa;on. Joan was held in high regard by the Australian Sports Commission and took every opportunity to ini;ate development proposals and auract increased financial support. The establishment of the na;onal training centres for Flatwater (Gold Coast) and Slalom (Tasmania) were a direct result of her persistent lobbying to the government. When Joan stepped down from full- ;me working 1988, she directed her energy and enthusiasm unto a myriad of voluntary canoeing ac;vi;es. From the organisa;on of state and na;onal events, to the conduct of Board of Canoe Educa;on courses, coaching individual paddlers and compe;ng in canoe marathon events, to working at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Joan has always been in the midst of the ac;on! In 1992, Joan was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for services to the sport of canoeing and in 2003 became a life member of Australian Canoeing.

10 Jim was previously and has currently returned to the posi;on of President of Canoe South Australia and is s;ll an ac;ve member of the West Lakes Canoe Club where his contribu;on is greatly appreciated. He has an excellent working rela;onship with the South Australian Sports Ins;tute and is very suppor;ve of the Talent Search Kayak Program there. It is said that one of his most valued contribu;ons to the sport and to the community is with his special skills in working with young people. He tries to be a great mo;vator and encourages and assist young people by providing opportuni;es for them to become involved in canoeing (both compe;;vely and recrea;onally), to ins;l good social skills, and to achieve their personal best. Jim encourages their development and involvement in canoeing, both as compe;tors and officials and assists them by transpor;ng them to and from events, both locally and interstate. His experiences and contribu;ons to the sport of canoeing include the following: Awarded Life Member of Australian Canoeing in Awarded Life Membership of Canoe SA in Involved in canoeing in 1976 when he gained his "proficiency award. Has held many official roles at local, state and na;onal regauas since Involved in state and na;onal marathon and sprint racing regauas from the early 1980 s both as a compe;tor and official. Served on na;onal discipline commiuees since the late 1980s. Involved in the joint management of the South Australian Sports Ins;tute Canoe /Kayak Program since its incep;on in Chairman of Canoe SA s Sprint Race CommiUee in Chairman of the Australian Canoeing Sprint CommiUee in 1996 and remained in that posi;on un;l early 2003 Responsible for involving a broad range of both youth and adults in all aspects of the sport over many years. Was a technical official for Canoe Sprint at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. A Member of the Australian Canoeing Sprint High Performance Commission in Awarded Australian Canoeing s Service to Canoeing Award in Chief starter for the World Masters Games in Nagambie Victoria. Recognised in 2003 by SASI at their annual awards presenta;on as the "2003 SASI Volunteer of the Year" for the enormous input he has provided to the program. Director of Australian Canoeing from Throughout his long associa;on with canoeing, local, state and na;onal, Jim has proven to be a most reliable enthusias;c volunteer, working ;relessly and without expec;ng any recogni;on.

11 Clint Robinson is a five ;me Olympian and three ;me World Champion. Clint won Olympic Gold and Bronze at Barcelona in 1992, and Olympic Bronze at Athens in 2004 as well as moun;ng the World Championships podium four ;mes between 1991 and 1995 to claim one Gold, two Silver and a Bronze medal. Born on July 27, 1992, in Brisbane, Clint David Robinson grew up at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast. A promising rugby league player as a schoolboy, his passion was surf lifesaving and in 1987 he won the Cadet Malibu Board Race at the Na;onal Surf Lifesaving Championships. That led to an invita;on to join the Australian Olympic Kayak squad in 1988 and ul;mately to represen;ng Australia at five Olympic games, the last at Beijing in 2008 at the age of 36. While training with the Olympic squad he con;nued to compete in beach events, notably the Uncle Toby s Iron Man series, where the rigorous Olympic kayak training helped him dominate the ski and board events but limited the ;me available for running and swimming training. Clint was inducted into the Australian Ins;tute of Sport s Best of the Best in 2001 and into Queensland Sport Hall of Fame In 1993 Clint was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for services to the sport of canoeing and in 2013 inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame.

12 George Varcoe was one of Australian Canoeing s founding fathers. George was the inaugural President holding the role from George was then President again in and He then became Vice- President of the Australian Canoe Federa;on from , he also held this posi;on another two ;mes from and then During , George was the Honour Secretary and Treasurer. George was on the Australian Canoe Federa;on Board for a total of 19 years! In 1958, George was elected to the Interna;onal Canoe Federa;ons (ICF) Board of management, he was the first Australian representa;ve on the Board. George and Ross Chenoweth with a few other members during the inaugural Victoria Canoe Associa;on mee;ng in 1949, established the canoe racing rules for Australia. George during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games held many posi;ons with the organisa;on of the Games and the Australian Canoe Team. His roles during the 2956 Olympics included compe;;on organiser, compe;;on official and the Australian Canoe team manager. Arer the games, George auended Australian Canoe Championships and was Chief Official at the events for many years. In 1971 George Varcoe was awarded with life membership of the Australian Canoe Federa;on.

13 Frank Whitebrook OAM was Australian Canoe Federa;on President from Frank has also represented Australia at an Interna;onal level as an ICF correspondent (appointed in 1963) and an Oceania ICF representa;ve from His most significant role at Interna;onal level was his appointment as ICF Vice- President and held the posi;on from (In 1980, the ICF Marathon Commi5ee was formed as a sub- commi5ee of Racing, and became a bona fide ICF Standing Commi5ee in 1984.) Frank in 1981, established Australian Canoe Federa;on s Marathon CommiUee which held the first Australian Marathon Championships on the Murray River over Easter that same year. Due to his contribu;on to the sport of Canoe Marathon, in 1984 the Frank Whitebrook Trophy was introduced into the Na;onal Championships, awarded to the best State/Territory results throughout the Championships. The Frank Whitebrook trophy is s;ll awarded today. Frank held many posi;ons within the canoeing community including a sec;on manager for canoeing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. He was also a compe;;on organiser for Sprint and Slalom s Na;onal Championships for many years. Frank founded the Far North Coast Canoe Club in The development of this club auracted over 200 ac;ve members and provided for a place and community of paddlers in Northern NSW to paddle. In 1971, Frank was awarded with life membership of the Australian Canoe Federa;on and in 1979 awarded life membership of NSW Canoe Associa;on. In 1995 Frank Whitebrook was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for services to higher educa;on, sport and fitness.

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