George Oliver 1948 – 2020
It is with great sadness that we bring you news of the death
of George, long term member of Nottingham Kayak Club and friend to paddlers all
over the country and abroad.
He came to Nottingham as a cabinet maker at Stag in 1970, joining
the club in the autumn of that year. He was already a paddler, having sea
canoed in the North East.
On joining the club he took particular interest in Long
Distance Racing, now known as Marathon. However his interest in other branches
of the sport remained and he brought his skill in boat building to designs in
sea boats, canoes, racing kayaks, polo and slalom boats. Up until his death in
February this year he was still working on new designs for both outriggers and
marathon canoes.
Without George, Nottingham Kayak Club would not be the club
it is today. With his help, we were able to develop a fleet of racing kayaks
and canoes, general purpose and canoe polo boats. Club members also benefitted
from George’s guidance in making their own boats. Income generated by the club
under George’s guidance allowed developments way beyond anything the existing
members could have managed, including a replacement for old wooden boat-racks
and a crumbling wooden shed, with our current building.
George worked at a number of jobs including as a laminator
for a local plastics company, building much bigger boats than canoes. Meanwhile
he continued to develop his coaching skills and paddling prowess including
winning Liffey Descent in K2, DW Canadian Trophy and DW Mixed K2 & Home
Built Boat. Many paddlers in several disciplines owe their success to coaching
from George over the years. George also went to Eaton Hall College, Retford and
qualified as a teacher although young people in canoeing benefitted from that
more than those in classrooms or workshops.
The wider canoeing world also benefitted from his skills in
coaching and from his organisational ability. In 1980 George took on the role
of Administrator to Canoe 81 Nottingham, the Sprint World Championships. After
this very successful event had taken place, he took the job of Canoe Coaching
and Development Officer for Nottinghamshire County Council, giving support and
help to schools and clubs all over Nottinghamshire, allowing many to become
successful in their chosen paddling activities. He kept this role until the
funding for Leisure Services dwindled and ceased when he retired. He had also travelled
abroad with the national sprint and marathon teams, and it was in 1982 at the
sprint World Championships in Belgrade that he met his wife, Radmila.
However throughout his involvement in other areas of
paddlesport, George continued to support NKC through funding generated in the
club workshop and produced entry level racing boats over an extended period of
the clubs existence. Few paddlers at events like DW or Watersides can have
failed to spot the multitude of boats made by George. All have his trademark
ridge along the centre of both front and back deck. The “stable K2” started
life as a slightly longer version specifically for DW, but as they were very limited
to what races they could be used in, the standard K2 length version emerged
soon afterwards and remains popular to this day, for those wanting a stable K2.
Trimmer also remains popular as a stable K1.
Many paddlers in the UK have a great deal to thank him for,
often unaware of his support for paddling in disciplines other than their own.
Sea canoeists, slalom paddlers, sprint, marathon, freestyle, polo …. the list
goes on, but George made contributions to the development of most disciplines. It
didn’t matter if you had known him 5 days or 50 years, George offered his
skills, guidance and friendship in his own, quiet, unassuming way.
Although dogged by health issues over the past few years he
remained an active paddler at NKC and continued to do some of those “hidden”
jobs that make up a club’s existence. The weekly “Clifton Race” in its current
form is mainly a legacy of his and he contributed to timing it until the week
he went into hospital.
In recent years his main support has been to canoe
developments and outrigger boats. Most outrigger paddlers in this country using
his 01 boats know little of his legacy to the rest of the paddling world.
Over the years he collected many awards: Nottingham City Citizen
of the Month; Bravery (for rescuing people from the Trent;) Volunteer Awards;
Lifetime Achievement Awards, but more important than those, without his
guidance, support and friendship, many developments in our sport would not have
taken place when and how they did, and as tributes to him attest, many of our
lives would have been completely different. We owe him a great deal.
Nottingham Kayak Club - February 2020
