On the first Sunday in December, 37 paddlers wearing festive hats invaded the Woronora River for our annual charity event, the Morison Cup. Conditions were perfect and we were all in the mood for a friendly race, good company and a socially distanced barbecue at the club house – the first social event since the start of Covid. Andrew G paddled the entire race wearing a full gorilla suit – he must have been so hot!
The Morison Cup is an annual 5K time trial event that was established to remember the club’s founders Joan and Bruce Morison. All entry fees are donated to The Cancer Council. Some excellent race times were recorded this year. Our winner (first home) was new member Anna B. The fastest times were paddled by our coaches Gareth S and James S. In third place was Lachlan, our young rising star. The fastest woman was the amazing Pauline F. Our junior members keenly participated in the time trial. They paddled hard and had a lot of fun – under the watchful eye of coach Robyn B.
After the event we relaxed with a barbecue prepared by Greg R. We are always grateful for the willing volunteers who make these events happen at Sutherland Shire Canoe Club. Many thanks go to chef Greg and our other volunteers who pitched in to organise the event, work out handicaps, publicise the race, run the race, time the event, take photographs and organise food for the starving paddlers afterwards – before pitching in to clean up.
We have other events in store for December including a social paddle to a quiet beach on the Woronora, where we will collect rubbish along the river bank. Our Wonnie Wardens aim to improve the cleanliness of our river – the Woronora River. Our eco leader, Robyn, works with a network of clean up groups in NSW.
2020 has seen our club survive and thrive with lots of new members and regular activities. While we were grateful that we could continue to paddle within the COVID restrictions, we will be happy to see out this strange and terrible year and hope for better times in 2021. Everyone is looking forward to celebrating the new year by paddling in the 3nd annual ’20 Groynes’ Community Padde on Botany Bay on Saturday 9 January. This event is run over 4 hours with paddlers doing as many (or as few) 4km laps on the ever changing waters of Botany Bay. This fun event attracts paddlers and relay teams of all abilities and boats. Registration will be available via webscorer soon.