About the Author
Laurie Collett is one of the paddling legends of Western Australia. He took up canoeing at the meagre age of 65 and has risen to prominence amongst his peers in the whole of Australia, many of whom have been paddling most of their lives! His preferred discipline is marathon racing, but he is often been seen in his plastic in white water. In fact one of his proudest white water achievements has been to finish the Avon Descent, Western Australia's gruelling long distance (130 km) white water race.
He recently returned from the Australian Masters' Games in Adelaide with a swag of medals, for which he was awarded a Citizen's Award in his hometown, Mandurah. He is an active and encouraging member of the Mandurah Over 55s Canoe Club, giving instruction to anyone who will listen.
In the photo below Laurie is second from the right in the back row. The others are some of his fellow paddlers who took part in the 1999 Australian Masters' Games.