Following in dad’s wake
Following in dad’s wake
July 27, 2006
Section: Sport
Father and daughter champs, Gary and Samantha
AT the age of 48, Gary David has proved to be up with the best in the world in his age group in the sport of kayaking, and his daughter Samantha, 18, is following dad's footsteps.
The self employed Balgownie electrical contractor first tried his hand at the sport in 1980 after playing rugby league with Wests and as a top competitor with the North Wollongong Surf Club.
His first major success came in 1982 when he won a silver medal at the state titles in the K4 10km race. The following two years he picked up two bronze in the K2 event with two different partners.
Marriage and raising three children then forced him into semiretirement for 18 years until a holiday in Noosa gave him the urge to compete again. And that's where Samantha, 14, came into calculations. They commenced training together and two years on at the NSW championships, Gary won the K2 U45 title with Jeff Banks and picked up a silver and bronze medal in the K1 500m and 500m respectively. That same year he and Jeff won the national U45 K2 500m and Gary finished second in the KI 500m.
The year 2005 proved to be a stellar one for Gary when he won two gold medals at the national titles in the KI 500 and 1000m, and with John Burrows, also claimed gold in the K2 500 and 1000m.
That same year Gary won nine gold medals at the Australian Master Games in Adelaide, and at the World Masters in Canada, he claimed a bronze in the K1 500m and two gold with John Burrows in the 500 and 1000m.
Already in 2006 this super fit athlete has picked up seven gold medals at the nationals in Perth in company with his mate John Burrows.
In the four years Samantha has been paddling, she has won the NSW U16 16km marathon crown in 2003 and also claimed a silver medal in K2 500 and 1000m and a bronze in the K4 500 and 1000m races. The next year she won the U16 marathon series at the state titles, won a silver in the K2 200m and a bronze in K1 500m.
Last year she competed in the U18 age group at the state titles winning the 21km marathon crown and the K2 200m race.
Unfortunately a severe bout of glandular fever then laid her low, but she is now back in training with her dad with further success set squarely in their sights.