Celebration of achievement

Over 200 club members and friends came together to celebrate five Fairfield members who have been selected to compete overseas. Elena Cementon organised the showing of the first Australian showing of Beyond the River, and the club raised over $2,500 for our Australian representatives.

Club Chairman Peter Goldsworthy spoke at the Rivoli cinema before the movie (see below) and and noted that Fairfield has never had so many members selected to compete overseas. 

Photographs of the atheletes are shown below. (Photographs by Jean Jones and Mike Zupanc) 

Fairfield Canoe Club members and friends I warmly welcome you tonight, to this celebration of achievement.

Fairfield Canoe Club has been strong competitive club for 
almost 100 years,  however as far as I know we have never had so many members selected to compete for Australia.

This year within Fairfield Canoe Club we have: 

• Marlena (Ahrens) – marathon K1 and K2 race over long distances on flat water
• Brigit (Doyle) and Jen (stevens)  – Womens canoe polo – small team, a bit like ice hockey on water
• Mac (Doyle) – Kayak sprint-  short distance high speed, where technique is paramount
• Sabastian (wakim) – C1 - kneeling canoe – a bit like balancing on one knee on a floating pencil
• Stephen (Porter)  - Mens Canoe polo

For most of us, competing at this level is a distant goal or just a dream. 

For those at this level it’s day after day of gruelling training and self discipline,
with the occasional chance to compete, however the excitement is over in a flash.

Fairfield Canoe Club are extremely proud of these paddlers who are representing us on the world stage! We wish them every success.

Thank you all for your support and for attending tonight.
After all the expenses have been deducted, with ticket sales and donations we have raised almost $2500 !!

The movie tonight is about a long distance race covering 120 gruelling km of mainly whitewater.  (very different to our Murray marathon which is 404km but is on flat water)

The closest event Australia has to the Dusi is the Avon Descent which is held in WA each August.  The Avon Descent is referred to as Hell or High water extending 124 km over 2 days.
Tonight we have 3 attendees who competed in the Avon Descent a few weeks ago - Patrick, John and Chris. 

Next month Marlena and Sab will be competing in South Africa 2017 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships to be hosted at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg South Africa, very close to the start of the Dusi race.

Tonight was only made possible by the sheer effort and will power of one person.  Committed from the start, with a full grasp of the potential risk, there was no stopping Elena.  All that time and energy invested in this idea over the last 3-4 months has certainly paid off.

From phones call to south Africa searching for the movie distributors to haggling with the Rivoli over the fees we pay tonight.  

Elena can you please come forward. Thank you for making tonight happen!

The cinema doors will open in a few minutes at 6:30 with the movie commencing at 6:40

But there’s still time to mosey on over to the bar, if you are in need of refreshment.

When you do enter the cinema please, ignore the seat numbers on your tickets.

In conclusion, if you are not a member of Fairfield Canoe Club and are inspired by the Movie or our atheletes here tonight, we’d be pleased to provide a guided tour of the club and facilities.
Come and visit us around 9:30am on any Sunday morning

Enjoy the movie!