Laurence Oliver

Laurence Oliver was himself inspired by the Olympians of his day when he started to become an active canoeing competitor in both Marathon and Sprint events nearly 50 years ago. His participation in the Mexico, Munich and Los Angeles Games was in its own way the inspiration he gave back to many youngsters in his role as GB Junior Team Manager for over 20 years. Whilst he was never a medal winner at the Olympics, he was a prolific winner in other areas of competition with more British National titles than anyone else before or after his retirement from major international competition. In this way you can only conclude that he always gave his utmost effort in all the competitions he entered. As a founder member of the Lincoln Canoe Club in the late 1950's, he has remained an active member and volunteer throughout his career and has been Chairman for many years. Laurence became an increasingly influential member of the club both on and off the water. In this way he has been both an inspiration to the club members, and made a real difference to the local community. This has been recognised by the local corporation on many occasions. When his long time K2 partner contracted cancer, he went through almost the same level of pain to help both him and his family through the illness. All through his career as an athlete and a teacher, he has imbued a real sense of fair play in all he has done. In short, he has always honoured the Olympic ideal.